973.7L63   In  Memoriam:   Abraham 
D2Inl       Lincoln,  Assassinated  at 

Washington,  April  14, 

1865. 


LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 
HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


<>  m  o  r  t  it  m 


VHRAIIAM   LI\(  OLX 


lu  mtmtvwm. 


ABE  AH  AM  LINCOLN 


ASS  ASSI  MATED 


At  Washington,  April  14,  1863: 


BEINCf  A  BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  MEETINGS,  ACTION  OF  AUTHORITIES  AND  SOCIETIES, 

SPEECHES,  SERMONS,  ADDRESSES  AND  OTHER  EXPRESSIONS  OF 

PUBLIC  FEELING  ON  RECEPTION  OF  THE  NEWS,  AND  AT 

THE  FUNERAL  OBSEQUIES  OF  THE  PRESIDENT, 


AT  BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 


BUFFALO: 
FEINTING  HOUSE  OF  MATTHEWS  &  WARREN, 

Office  of  the  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser. 

1865. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 

Assassinated  Good  Friday,  1865. 

"  Forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do ! " 

He  said,  and  so  went  shriven  to  Ms  fate  — 
Unknowing  went,  that  generous  heart  and  true. 

Even  while  he  spake  the  slayer  lay  in  wait, 

And  when  the  morning  opened  Heaven's  gate 
There  passed  the  whitest  soul  a  nation  knew. 

Henceforth  all  thoughts  of  pardon  are  too  late ; 
They,  in  whose  cause  that  arm  its  weapon  drew, 

Have  murdered  MERCY.    Now  alone  shall  stand 
Blind  JUSTICE,  with  the  sword  unsheathed  she  wore. 

Hark,  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  strand 
The  swelling  thunder  of  the  people's  roar : 

What  words  they  murmur  —  FETTER  NOT  HER  HAND  ! 

SO   LET   IT   SMITE,   SUCH   DEEDS   SHALL   BE    NO   MORE  ! 

— Edmund  C.  Stedman. 


Saturday,  April  15th,  1865,  was  a  day  of  mourning  in 
Buffalo.  The  direful  news  of  the  assassination  of  the 
President,  and  the  attempted  murder  of  Secretary  Seward, 
passed  from  mouth  to  mouth,  until  within  a  space  of  time 
almost  incredibly  short,  it  was  diffused  over  the  entire 
city.  Workmen  on  their  early  way  to  the  forges  and 
shops  spoke  of  the  awful  calamity  with  blanched  faces ; 
friends  met  and  shook  hands  in  silence  or  conversed  with 
quivering  lips  and  choked  utterance ;  bells  tolled ;  the 
usual  sounds  peculiar  to  a  busy  city  on  the  busiest  day 
of  the  week  were  hushed,  and  it  seemed  that  a  pall  had 
been  spread  over  all. 

With  one  accord,  as  it  were,  the  stores  were  closed,,  all 
traffic  was  suspended,  and  the  sable  emblems  of  woe  ap- 
peared on  every  hand.  From  the  dwelling  of  the  hum- 
blest colored  family"  to  the  mansion  of  the  most  opulent 
citizen,  fluttered  the  half-mast  flag,  and  there  were  few 


8 

localities  were  some  manifestations  of  sorrow  were  not  ap- 
parent. All  business  was  suspended.  The  streets  were 
crowded,  and  the  telegraph  offices  were  besieged  by  those 
eager  to  obtain  the  latest  tidings ;  men  stood  in  knots 
and  conversed  upon  the  sad  event,  and  told  their  hopes 

and  fears  for  the  future;  and  the  usual  avocations  and 

t 

pastimes  were  forgotten  in  the  contemplation  of  the  over- 
whelming calamity. 

On  receiving  the  despatch  which  announced  that  the 
President  had  breathed  his  last,  a  large  placard,  of  which 

the  following  is  a  copy,  was  printed  at  the  office  of  the 

s 
Commercial  Advertiser,  and  distributed  gratuitously : 


THE  PRESIDENT  IS  DEAD! 

VAK  DEPAKTMENT, 

Washington,  April  15,  1865. 

To  MAJ,  GENEKAL  DIX, 

Abraham  Lincoln  died  this  morning  at  twenty- 
two  minutes  after  Seven  o'clock, 

E,  M,  STANTON,  Sec,  of  War, 


These  were  placed  in  the  windows  of  very  many  houses 
and  stores. 

The  citizens,  the  Board  of  Trade,  the  Masonic  order, 
the  Churches,  all  took  proper  action  on  the  occasion. 

The  following  was  the  leading  editorial  in. the  Com- 
mercial Advertiser,  on  the  afternoon  of  Saturday : 


9 

WE  stand  in  the  presence  of  a  sudden  and  terrible  national  ca- 
lamity. Like  thunder  from  a  clear  sky,  the  intelligence  of 
the  assassination  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  fallen 
upon  the  unprepared  ears,  and  has  sunk  deep  into  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  From  the  summit  of  our  great  joy  over  the  near  presence 
of  peace  through  victory,  we  have  been  suddenly  cast  down  into 
mourning.  For  the  third  time  within  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, death  has  smitten  the  representative  head  of  the  nation ;  but 
this  time  he  has  come  in  a  shape  which  will  create  a  sensation  all 
over  Christendom,  infinitely  more  profound  than  attended  the  death 
of  Harrison  or  Taylor. 

The  shock  of  the  terrible  event  is  still  so  fresh  upon  all,  and  the 
results  so  full  of  apprehension  and  conjecture,  that  we  stand  appalled. 
It  has  come  upon  us  at  a  time  so  ripe  with  the  consummations  of  a 
great  struggle,  and  so  deeply  freighted  with  the  destinies  of  our  na- 
tion, that  words  are  but  vanity,  and  thoughts  are  too  tumultuous  for 
deliberate  expression.  It  comes  "in  the  days  when  the  keepers  of 
the  house  shall  tremble,  and  the  strong  men  bow  themselves." 
Truly,  "  the  mourners  go  about  the  streets."  "We  mourn  the  loss 
of  one  who  was  a  stalwart  reaper  in  the  harvest  field  of  the  world's 
progress;  one  who  had  "borne  his  faculties  so  meek,  and  had  been 
so  clear  in  his  great  office,  that  his  virtues  will  plead  like  angels, 
trumpet-tongued,  against  the  deep  damnation  of  his  taking  oif." 
Although  his  mortal  remains  now  lie  inanimate  in  the  White  House, 
yet  Abraham  Lincoln  is  not  dead  !  He  still  lives,  and  will  live  "  to 
the  last  syllable  of  recorded  time  "  in  the  mighty  accomplishments 
which  he  achieved,  as  God's  chosen  instrument.  His  death  was  his 
apotheosis.  He  has  been  promoted  to  the  sublime  rank  of  The 
American  Martyr.  He  has  but  gone  forward  to  take  command  of 
the  silent  soldiers  of  the  Republic,  whose  invisible  hands  shall  here- 
after reach  out  from,  the  Eternal,  and  sustain  and  protect  our  gov- 
ernment. 

We  mourn  for  him  as  a  man,  as  a  father,  as  a  husband ;  we  mourn 
for  him  as  the  political  architect,  who  was  called  to  the  second  build- 
ing of  our  temple,  the  completed  glories  of  which  it  was  forbidden 
that  he  should  witness.  We  mourn  for  the  unachieved  possibilities 
of  his  fame ;  but  we  mourn  not  without  hope.  Wherefore  ? 

Because  every  drop  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  blood  has  been  sancti- 
fied to  the  perfect  work  of  our  regeneration;  and  will  be  the  talis- 


10 

man  of  an  inexorable  purpose  all  through  the  land.  Every  Ameri- 
can heart  that  beats  worthily  and  honestly,  to-day  beats  higher  and 
faster,  with  a  steadfast  purpose  of  perseverance,  and  a  more  unyield- 
ing endeavor.  We  accept,  as  a  sacred  inheritance,  the  precious 
legacy  of  his  unfinished  labors :  and,  by  God's  grace,  we  will  com- 
plete them. 

To  the  dead,  we  say :  "  Hail !  and  farewell !  "  Reverently  lifting 
up  his  fallen  mantle,  we  pray  for  the  Divine  guidance  to  him  who 
has  fallen  heir  to  it. 

Abraham  Lincoln  died  upon  the  eve  of  the  anniversary  of  the  Cru- 
cifixion. His  soul  took  its  flight  amid  the  echoes  of  solemn  praises 
which  accompanied  the  raising  of  the  old  flag  over  Sumter.  Both 
are  significant.  The  nation  has  completed  its  atonement;  let  the 
New  Man  and  the  People  see  to  it  that  the  New  Dispensation  shall 
come. 

The  Courier,  in  its  first  issue  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  spoke  as  follows: 

/~\VER  the  bier  of  the  murdered  President,  his  political  friends 
^-^  and  political  enemies  clasp  hands,  in  common  execration  of  the 
crime,  and  common  grief  over  the  national  calamity,  of  his  assas- 
sination. The  event  is  utterly  without  parallel  in  our  own  history, 
and  we  doubt  whether  the  annals  of  a  thousand  years  furnish  a 
precedent  for  a  deed  so  monstrous  and  fraught  with  so  momentous 
consequences.  The  heart  of  the  country  was  the  mark  of  the  assas- 
sin; civilization,  not  in  this  hemisphere  only,  but  everywhere,  felt 
the  shock  of  the  murderous  blow. 

Words  are  vain  to  comment  adequately  on  the  tragedy  itself;  we 
can  only  follow  imperfectly,  in  expression,  some  of  the  thoughts  it 
suggests.  Abraham  Lincoln,  on  the  fatal  night  of  his  murder,  held 
relations  to  the  country  and  to  the  world,  the  importance  of  which 
it  is  impossible  to  calculate.  Compelled  during  a  part  of  his  ad- 
ministration to  oppose  his  policy,  we  yet  realize  that  not  only  wns 
he  at  this  time  peculiarly  the  embodiment  of  the  "  American  idea," 
but  in  him  and  his  action,  as  developed  during  the  later  days  of  his 
life,  was  centered  the  hope  of  the  people.  The  germ  of  pacification 
—  of  a  return  on  the  part  of  a  distraught  and  divided  country,  to 
unity,  peace  and  prosperity  —  lay  in  the  brain  which  was  pierced 


11 

with  a  mortal  wound  on  Friday  night.  If  they  mourn  him  who 
have  gloried  in  him  as  their  leader  in  war,  much  more  should  they 
grieve,  who,  in  the  midst  of  war,  have  been  most  wearily  sighing 
for  peace. 

There  was  a  time  after  the  fearful  news  came,  when  it  seemed 
that  the  hand  of  sacrilege  had  effectually  shaken  the  very  altar  of 
our  country's  liberties  —  that  the  foundations  of  the  political  and 
social  structure  had  been  stricken  with  its  head.  Confusion,  an- 
archy, revolution,  seemed  to  follow  in  the.  track  of  the  assassin.  But 
we  have  faith  in  the  soundness  and  saneness  of  the  heart  of  the 
American  people.  Even  from  this  staggering  stroke  it  will  recover, 
and  address  itself,  we  earnestly  believe,  as  calmly  as  'before,  to  the 
great  work  of  composing  the  disordered  and  embittered  elements  of 
our  national  life  to  peace  and  harmony. 

Andrew  Johnson  is  President.  Let  us  hope  that  the  men  of  rea- 
son and  statesmanship  around  him,  rather  than  the  men  of  passion 
and  extreme  opinions,  will  be  chosen  as  his  influential  counsellors ; 
that  the  sacred  obligation  upon  him  to  follow  the  path  indicated  and 
entered  upon  by  his  dead  predecessor,  will  be  sacredly  honored. 
His  antecedents  were  formed  among  associations  which  tended  to 
make  the  Constitution  and  the  fundamental  principles  of  American 
government  and  liberty,  paramount  and  dear  to  his  mind.  We 
hope  and  believe  he  will  be  true  to  these.  We  trust  him.  Let  all 
true  men  and  patriots,  forgetting,  in  this  dark  hour  of  the  Republic, 
party  prejudices  and  proclivities,  give  him  their  support  and  prayers. 

The  chief  danger  attending  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln, 
was  that  the  madness  of  the  murder  would  stir  up  a  counter-mad- 
ness in  the  minds  of  the  loyal  people.  We  rejoice  to  believe  that 
the  danger  is  past.  Sorrow  is  the  master  passion  of  the  country, 
and  the  moment  cannot  come  now,  when  grief  might  be  transformed 
into  the  hideous  spirit  of  undiscriminating  revenge.  Universally 
the  childishness,  the  wickedness,  is  recognized,  of  those  few  who 
would  make  the  awful  crime  of  one  or  two  or  a  score  of  persons  a 
pretext  for  wholesale  vengeance  toward  a  people  —  a  plea  for  re- 
versing a  policy  established  by  the  lamented  dead  and  for  inaugu- 
rating a  course  which  would  entail  a  generation  of  strife  and  misery 
upon  the  country,  and  disgrace  upon  the  American  name. 

Let  the  nation  sorrow,  though  not  without  hope,  for  one  who 
served  it,  to  the  best  of  his  ability  and  knowledge,  faithfully.  Let 


12 

it  cherish  the  memory  of  the  dead,  and  vindicate  outraged  justice 
and  humanity  in  the  person  of  his  murderer.  But  above  all,  let  it 
take  the  spirit  of  its  departed  leader  to  be  its  guide  in  the  difficult 
and  stormy  future  before  it.  "  He,  being  dead,  yet  speaketh."  In 
the  name  of  the  murdered  Abraham  Lincoln,  we  conjure  the  loyal 
people  to  imitate  the  calmness,  the  kindness,  the  quiet  wisdom  he 
exemplified  —  to  pursue  the  generous,  enlightened,  politic  course  he 
had  inaugurated  with  reference  to  the  great  problem  now  confront- 
ing the  country. 

The  following  formed  the  leading  article  in  the  Express 

on  Monday,  April  1 7th : 
/ 

TTOW  reverently  Abraham  Lincoln  was  loved  by  the  American 
••-— •  People ;  how  much  they  had  leaned  upon  the  strength  of  his 
heroic  character,  in  the  great  trial  through  which  he  led  them ;  how 
perfect  a  trust  they  reposed  in  his  wisdom,  his  integrity,  his  patriot- 
ism and  the  fortitude  of  his  faithful  heart ;  how  great  a  space  he  filled 
in  all  the  constitution  of  their  hopes,  they  have  now  been  made  to 
know  as  they  did  not  know  before.  The  shock  of  consternation, 
grief,  and  horror,  which  revealed  it  to  them,  was  undoubtedly  the 
most  profound  that  ever  fell  upon  a  people.  It  shook  this  nation 
like  an  earthquake.  The  strong  men  of  America  wept  together  like 
children.  Never,  do  we  believe,  was  there  exhibited  such  a*spec- 
tacle  of  manly  tears,  wrung  from  stout  hearts  by  bitter  anguish,  as 
every  street  of  every  city,  town  and  hamlet,  in  these  United  States 
presented  on  Saturday  last.  Ah,  there  wras  a  deep  planting  of  love 
for  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen !  Noble  soul, 
honest  heart,  wrise  statesman,  upright  magistrate,  brave  old  patriot, 
the  nation  was  orphaned  by  thy  death,  and  felt  the  grief  of 
orphanage. 

But  grief  is  only  half  the  bitter  passion  that  thrills  the  country 
under  the  awful  blow  of  murder  which  struck  down  its  Chief.  It 
brings  a  fierce  accompaniment  —  fierce,  but  not  altogether  fierce,  for 
it  wears  a  stern  solemnity.  All  the  tender  sentiment  that  had  been 
growing  up  in  the  popular  heart,  under  the  magnanimous  influence 
of  victory,  was  steeled  and  hardened  upon  the  instant.  Each  man 
felt,  as  though  the  assassin  hand  of  treason  was  at  his  own  throat, 


13 

the  deadliness  of  the  conflict,  and  the  temper  of  the  nation  under- 
went a  total  change. 

A  new  aspect  is  put  upon  the  contest  by  this  tremendous  tragedy. 
With  all  that  we  had  learned  of  the  fiendish  and  implacable  ferocity 
of  the  slavery-begotten  treason  with  which  we  are  at  war,  we  have 
learned  more  in  a  single  hour  than  all  before.  For  this  most  hellish 
act  is  its  exponent.  In  this  murder  of  men,  we  taste  but  the  con- 
centrate essence  of  the  venom  which  inspired  the  whole  attempt  of 
the  murder  of  the  nation.  We  know  it  now.  We  know  now  what 
the  Richmond  editor  meant,  two  months  ago,  when  he  spoke  with 
mystery  of  a  blow  to  be  struck  that  should  "  astound  the  world." 
We  know  what  George  Sanders  meant,  whpn  he  whispered  in  the 
ear  of  Sala  a  prophecy  of  deeds  that  should  "  make  civilization 
shudder."  They  meant  these  murders.  They  meant  more  than 
these.  They  meant  an  organized  scheme  of  assassination,  larger 
than  devilish  hate  or  devilish  treason  ever  conceived  before  —  aimed 
at  the  cutting  down  of  all  the  nation's  heads  in  government. 

It  was  Rebellion,  in  its  corporate  character,  that  moved  and 
nerved  and  armed  the  assassins.  Booth  and  his  confederates  of  the 
inner  circle  of  the  monster  plot  were  but  the  representatives  and 
agents  of  the  great  Confederacy  behind  them.  The  death  to  which 
they  have  doomed  themselves  is  but  the  penalty  which  the  whole 
rebellious  race  invoke  upon  their  heads  by  this  foul  deed.  It  is  im- 
becile to  talk  of  conciliatory  lenience  to  such  a  race,  and  only  im- 
beciles talk  it  any  longer.  Men  feel  that  the  iron  hand,  of  justice 
must  be  clenched  against  them,  ungloved  with  any  tenderness  what- 
ever. 

Perhaps,  in  the  great  design  of  Providence,  for  the  working  out 
of  the  consequences  of  this  tremendous  struggle  to  their  utmost 
end,  it  was  needful  that  this  awful  tragedy  should  be  enacted,  to 
steel  the  softened  temper  of  the  people,  and  that  Abraham  Lincoln, 
his  own  great  part  performed,  his  fame  complete,  was  laid  a  costly 
sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  that  stern  need.  There  is  this  thought 
in  many  a  reverent  mind;  but  with  this,  or  without  it,  the  MARTYR- 
DOM of  Abraham  Lincoln  gives  him  a  sacred  memory  forever. 


The  meeting  of  citizens  on  Saturday  evening  at  the 
Merchants'  Club  Room,  though  the  call  was  not  published 


14 

until  late,  was  very  largely  attended.  The  assemblage 
was  called  to  order  by  S.  V.  R.  WATSON,  Esq.,  on  whose 
nomination,  Hon.  E.  GK  SPAULDING  was  chosen  to  preside. 
WM.  THURSTONE  was  elected  Secretary.  In  assuming  the 
chair,  Mr.  SPALTLDING  spoke  briefly,  but  feelingly  and  elo- 
quently, of  the  occasion  which  had  called  the  citizens  to- 
gether. He  paid  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the 
President,  and  alluded  to  his  aquaintance  with  Andrew 
Johnson ;  said  he  had  known  him  as  a  zealous,  faithful 
and  industrious  representative,  a  true  and  upright  man, 
and  believed  he  would  remain  firm  and  carry  out  faithfully 
the  policy  of  the  Administration;  that  he  would  never 
yield  a  hair  to  the  rascals  who  had  been  laboring  to  de- 
stroy the  nation ;  but  would  stand  by  the  government, 
whatever  might  betide. 

Rev.  H.  A.  PARSONS  next  spoke  in  vindication  of  the 
character  of  President  Johnson. 

Rev.  Dr.  HEACOCK  was  then  loudly  called,  but  indispo- 
sition had  prevented  his  attendance. 

Judge  CLINTON  was  the  next  speaker.  In  answer  to 
a  vociferous  call  he  came  forward  and  took  the  stand, 
though  evidently  with  much  unwillingness.  "  God 
knows,"  he  said,  "  I  do  not  wish  to  speak  this  evening." 
He  was  overcome  with  a  blow  more  terrible  than  ever 
felt  before.  It  had  seemed  to  him  for  a  time  that  the 
hopes  of  the  country  had  been  crushed ;  but  reflection 
had  shown  him  that  he  was  mistaken.  He  did  not  wish 


15 

to  make  a  speech.  He  was  fearful  that,  in  the  intensity 
of  his  feelings,  he  might  give  utterance  to  that  for  which 
he  might  afterward  be  sorry.  (Cries  of  "  Go  on !  No 
danger.")  Judge  Clinton  continued  in  a  strain  of  impas- 
sioned eloquence  to  portray  the  murderous  course  pursued 
by  those  who  have  arrayed  themselves  against  the  gov- 
ernment, and  concluded  by  declaring  that  "  come  weal, 
come  woe,  what  little  life  there  was  left  in  him  should  be 
devoted  to  the  support  of  Andrew  Johnson  and  his  ad- 
ministration." His  remarks  were  received  with  a  storm 
of  applause,  and  created  a  profound  sensation. 

Rev.  J.  W.  BALL  followed,  and  spoke  for  some  time 
with  eloquence  and  fervor  in  relation  to  the  spirit  that 
had  fostered  and  encouraged  the  assassination  of  the  Pres- 
ident. "  The  same  spirit,"  he  said,  "  had  manifested  itself 
_  in  the  Senate  Chamber  for  years  before."  The  reverend 
gentleman  went  on  to  speak  in  appropriate  terms  of  the 
retribution  to  which  the  enemies  of  the  country  had  ex- 
posed themselves,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  they  might 
meet  with  a  proper  punishment. 

S.  M.  CHAMBEKLAHST,  Esq.,  moved  that  a  committee  of 
ten  be  appointed  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for 
the  observance  of  the  20th  day  of  April  in  a  solemn  and 
becoming  manner. 

A.  SHERWOOD,  Esq.,  moved,  as  an  amendment,  that  a 
committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  co-operate  with  com- 
mittees to  be  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Com- 
mon Council. 


16 

Mr.  CHAMBERLAIN  accepted  the  amendment,  and  the 
motion  as  amended  was  adopted. 

The  Chair  appointed  the  following  gentlemen  as  such 
committee:  Brig.-Gen.  R.  L.  Howard,  chairman;  Pascal 
P.  Pratt,  George  W.  Clinton,  S.  S.  Jewett  and  Wm.  H. 
Glenny. 

After  some  additional  remarks  from  Mr.  SPATTLDING, 
in  which  all  were  exhorted  to  return  to  their  homes  with 
renewed  determination  to  perform  their  duties  as  loyal 
citizens,  and  to  stand  by  the  Government  to  the  last,  the 

meeting  adjourned. 

• 

On  the  Sabbath  succeeding  the  death  of  the  President, 
Rev.  Dr.  Lord  delivered  the  following  discourse  in  the 
Central  Presbyterian  Church.  The  church  was  filled  to 
its  utmost  capacity,  and  the  earnest,  impassioned  words 
of  the  eloquent  divine  were  such  as  are  seldom  heard. 

The  text  selected  for  the  occasion  was  "  The  Lord  God 
Omnipotent  reigneth."—  REV.  xix.  6. 


DELIVERED  BY  KEY.  DR.  LORD,  ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  DEATH 
OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN,  AT  THE  CENTRAL  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 
APRIL  16,  1865. 

REPORTED   BY   H.   W.    BOX,   ESQ. 

TOEHOLD  in  this  sad  drapery,  in  this  national  flag  clad  with  the 
-*^*  emblems  of  woe,  the  outward  tokens  of  the  irrepressible  grief 
of  a  great  nation  weeping  over  the  death  of  its  beloved  and  vener- 
ated President.  The  words  of  David  concerning  Abner,  struck 
down  by  an  assassin,  sound  over  the  chasm  of  thirty  centuries 


17 

through  this  church  and  ten  thousand  churches  over  all  the  land, 
"  Know  ye  not  that  there  is  a  great  man  fallen  this  day  in  Israel  ? 
Who  was  like  to  him  in  Israel  ?  How  are  the  mighty  fallen  and 
the  weapons  of  war  perished."  From  the  height  of  gladness,  in 
the  midst  of  joyful  tidings  the  nation  is  plunged  into  the  deepest 
grief.  "We  looked  for  joy,  but  behold  sorrow,  —  for  judgment  and 
behold  a  cry,  —  for  peace  and  lo  !  not  war  alone,  but  murder,  most 
foul,  most  horrible.  We  thought  we  saw  out  of  a  darkness  of  four 
years'  duration,  the  beams  of  the  rising  sun,  and  lo !  the  pall  of 
midnight  gathers  over  the  sky,  and  instead  of  thanksgiving  and 
praise,  we  are  called  to  mourning,  lamentation  and  woe.  THE 
PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  HAS  FALLEN 
BY  THE  BLOW  OF  AN  ASSASSIN ;  the  sick  chamber  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  has  been  invaded,  and  a  dagger  thrice  thrust  into 
his  body  after  the  murderous  felling  of  his  attendants.  No  wonder 
the  nation  is  horrified  as  these  tidings  pass  along  from  city  to  city, 
from  hamlet  to  hamlet.  No  wonder  the  stoutest-hearted  tremble, 
and  the  strong  man  bows  himself  to  conceal  his  tears,  and  the  cry 
of  a  whole  people  goes  up  to  God,  "  How  long,  O  Lord,  will  thou 
not  judge  and  avenge  their  blood  ?  "  Three  hundred  thousand  mar- 
tyrs fallen  in  this  war  for  law  and  liberty  greet  the  advent  of  their 
chief  in  the  world  of  spirits  and  hail  him  as  the  noblest  victim  of 
them  all.  God  grant  he  may  be  the  last. 

*  I  do  not  believe  such  a  crime  has  been  committed  in  a  thousand 
years,  perhaps  not  since  the  day  of  the  murder  on  Calvary,  when 
the  heavens  darkened  and  the  earth  staggered,  and  the  dead  arose 
as  the  God-man  Mediator  hung  upon  the  cross.  No  human  death 
can,  indeed,  be  likened  to  that  of  Him  who  died  for  our  sins  upon 
the  cruel  Tree,  but  it  may  serve  as  a  comparison  to  mark  degrees  of 
guilt  in  all  lesser  crimes. 

"  Besides  this  man 

Hath  borne  his  faculties  so  meek,  hath  been 
So  clear  in  his  great  office,  that  his  virtues 
Will  plead  like  angels,  trumpet-tongued,  against 
The  deep  damnation  of  his  taking  off ; 
And  pity,  like  a  naked  new-born  babe, 
Striding  the  blast,  or  heaven's  cherubim,  hors'd, 
Upon  the  sightless  couriers  of  the  air, 
Shall  blow  the  horrid  deed  in  every  eye, 
That  tears  shall  drown  the  wind." 


18 

I  do  not  look  upon  the  murder  of  the  President  as  an  act  of  mere 
private  vengeance ;  it  was  a  blow  aimed  at  the  people  who  elected 
him  and  at  the  principles  he  represented.  He  could  not  have  had  a 
personal  enemy.  He  was  among  the  mildest  and  most  humane  of 
men,  genia.1,  generous,  unwilling  to  shed  blood,  interposing  his  pre- 
rogative of  mercy  when  he  possibly  could  without  danger  to  the 
country,  and  erring,  when  he  did  err,  on  the  side  of  compassion ;  a 
man  of  unassuming  manners,  without  pride  or  haughtiness,  acces- 
sible always  to  the  poorest  suppliant,  harboring  no  revengeful  feel- 
ing toward  any,  incapable  of  a  cruel  word  or  act,  —  such  a  man 
could  have  no  personal  enmities.  He  was  hated  as  the  representa- 
tive of  Northern  men,  of  free  principles,  as  the  head  of  a  nation  de- 
fending its  life  against  an  unprovoked  and  utterly  wicked  rebellion, 
whose  sole  object  was  to  perpetuate  a  detestable  slave  Oligarchy 
which  sought  to  enthrone  itself  upon  the  ruins  of  free  institutions, 
free  labor,  free  soil,  and  free  speech.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  threatened 
with  assassination  on  his  way  to  Washington  at  his  first  inaugural, 
before  he  could  have  done  any  act  to  excite  personal  enmity. 

The  threat  has  hung  over  him  ever  since,  not  so  much  as  the  man 
Abraham  Lincoln,  as  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  now 
the  blow  has  fallen  after  four  years  of  unparalleled  trial  and  labor, 
after  wearisome  days  and  wearisome  nights,  and  all  the  perplexity 
of  a  doubtful  war ;  after  having  endured  burdens  which  would  have 
killed  most  men,  and  exhibited  a  devoted  patriotism  and  an  unex- 
pected and  extraordinary  ability,  which  twenty  years  hence  will  be 
acknowledged  by  his  bitterest  political  opponents.  After  the  suc- 
cessful termination  of  the  war  by  the  surrender  of  Richmond  and 
the  capture  of  Lee's  whole  army,  and  while  he  was  revolving 
measures  for  the  restoration  of  the  South,  his  heart  full  of  kind- 
ness and  good-will  to  the  fallen  foe,  while  he  was  engaged  in 
making  their  fall  as  light  as  possible,  he  is  basely  assassinated  in 
the  presence  of  a  thousand  people,  the  murderer  crying  out  the 
ancient  motto  of  Virginia,  with  an  open  dagger  in  his  hand,  "  sic 
semper  tyrannis  !  " 

What  a  grim  burlesque  was  this !  It  was  the  tyrant  who  held 
the  dagger,  it  was  Hampden  who  fell.  "  Sic  semper  tyrannis "  is 
the  proper  motto  to  be  inscribed  upon  the  tomb  of  the  slaveholders' 
rebellion,  while  round  the  momiment  of  our  martyred  President  a 
grateful  people  will  hang  the  broken  chains  of  four  millions  of 


19 

slaves,  and  pilgrims  of  freedom  from  every  land   of   every   coming 
age  will  crown  it  Avith  their  votive  offerings. 

The  President's  recent  inaugural  seems  now  to  have  been  a  pro- 
phetic utterance  of  one  appointed  to  die.  Its  solemn  religious  tone, 
its  abnegation  of  all  personal  merit  or  praise,  its  sublime  reference 
to  the  justice  of  God,  and  appeal  to  His  decision,  was  "  an  anointing 
for  his  burial."  It  suggested  on  its  first  perusal  the  words  of  a 
poet: 

His  voice  sounds  like  a  prophet's  word, 

And  in  its  solemn  tones  are  heard 

The  thanks  of  millions  yet  to  be. 

Its  closing  words  will  be  read  in  every  language  and  by  every 
people  to  the  end  of  time: 

"  FONDLY  DO  WE  HOPE,  FERVENTLY  DO  WE  PRAY,  THAT  THIS 
MIGHTY  SCOURGE  OP  WAR  MAY  SOON  PASS  AWAY.  YET,  IF  GOD 
WILLS  THAT  IT  CONTINUE  UNTIL  ALL  THE  WEALTH  PILED  BY  THE 
BONDMAN'S  TWO  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  YEARS  OF  UNREQUITED  TOIL 
SHALL  BE  SUNK,  AND  UNTIL  EVERY  DROP  OF  BLOOD  DRAWN  WITH  THE 
LASH  SHALL  BE  PAID  WITH  ANOTHER  DRAWN  WITH  THE  SWORD,  AS 
WAS  SAID  THREE  THOUSAND  YEARS  AGO,  SO,  STILL  IT  MUST  BE  SAID  : 
"  THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  THE  LORD  ARE  TRUE  AND  RIGHTEOUS  ALTO- 
GETHER." 

The  ruffian  who  slew  him  embodied  the  revenge  and  malice  of 
the  leaders  of  this  revolt  against  the  government  and  the  institu- 
tions of  the  United  States.  Exasperated  by  utter  defeat,  and  ren- 
dered furious  by  the  blows  of  Grant,  Sherman,  Thomas  and  Sheri- 
dan, the  broken  Confederacy  was  the  wounded  serpent  writhing 
under  the  heel  of  the  victor,  striking  its  venomous  fangs  into  its  foe 
with  a  last  dying  hiss. 

But  however  grievous  this  calamity  may  be,  however  sad  the  re- 
moval of  our  President  at  such  a  time  as  this,  when  he  was  about 
to  receive  the  reward  of  his  noble  patriotism,  his  herculean  labors 
and  his  innumerable  perplexities,  we  are  not  without  consolation. 
The  Republic  survives !  Our  victorious  Generals  and  their  noble  ar- 
mies, our  invincible  navy,  and  the  officers,  survive,  and  hold  and 
will  hold  all  that  they  have  won.  If  we  take  up  the  old  Hebrew 
lamentation,  "  How  is  the  strong  staff  broken  and  the  beautiful 
rod,"  we  know  that  God  the  Judge  and  the  Avenger  still  lives  and 
reigns.  As  the  voice  "  of  many  waters  and  of  mighty  thunderings" 
2 


20 

there  comes  to  us  in  this  providence  the  solemn  annunciation  "  the 
Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth,"  and  its  language  to  us  is,  "  Put 
not  your  trust  in  man."  It  reminds  us  of  our  dependence.  It  tells 
us  in  our  bereavement  that  He  who  guided  our  councils  and  gave 
victory  to  our  armies,  is  yet  the  ruler  of  nations  and  will  perfect 
his  work. 

The  folly  no  less  than  the  wickedness  of  the  murder  of  President 
Lincoln  is  very  apparent,  for  clemency  was  one  of  his  chief  charac- 
teristics. The  rebels  could  not  have  selected  in  all  the  Government 
one  so  likely  to  deal  leniently  with  them,  so  disposed  to  forgiveness, 
so  ready  to  forego  the  claim  of  justice  in  all  possible  cases,  so  in- 
clined, as  possibly  to  err,  on  the  side  of  mercy.  His  death  intro- 
duces to  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  nation  Andrew  Johnson,  of 
Tennessee,  himself  personally  so  great  a  sufferer  from'  the  tyranny 
of  the  Southern  Rebels,  that  it  will  be  hard  for  him  to  forgive. 
They  have  killed  a  friend  to  put  an  enemy  in  his  place,  one  who 
knows  them  too  well,  and  has  suffered  by  them  too  much,  to  be 
cajoled  or  flattered  into  a  remission  of  the  penalty.  God,  as  it 
seems  to  us,  has  taken  away  the  kind  and  amiable  Chief  Magistrate 
when  he  has  done  his  work,  and  put  a  stern  judge  in  his  place.  So 
much  we  may  discover,  though  "His  way  is  in  the  sea,  and  His 
pathway  in  the  great  waters,  and  His  footsteps  are  not  known." 
I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  Mr.  Johnson,  who  is  now  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  is  a  hard  or  revengeful  man.  I  believe  him,  in 
the  disgraceful  scene  at  the  Capital,  to  have  been  the  victim  of  a 
conspiracy ;  we  have  the  evidence  that  he  had  enemies  in  Washing- 
ton ripe  for  any  villainy.  His  record  as  Governor  of  Tennessee  and 
Senator  of  the  United  States,  shows  him  to  be  an  able  man  and  a 
v  true  patriot,  and  patriotism  in  the  South  means  something,  because 
it  costs  something.  His  words  at  the  first  formal  meeting  of  his 
Cabinet  are  most  significant ;  he  said  that  at  present  he  saw  no 
necessity  for  an  extra  session  of  Congress,  and  further,  that  he 
would  not  commit  himself  to  a  policy  which  would  prevent  visiting 
condign  punishment  upon  traitors.  He  had  been  fighting  rebels 
here  and  in  Tennessee,  and  his  previous  course  might  be  regarded 
as  an  indication  of  his  future  conduct  upon  this  subject. 

God  has  in  this  a  purpose,  and  as  He  left  the  Southern  slavehold- 
ers to  destroy  slavery  by  their  own  act,  so  now  He  has  left  them  in 
their  murderous,  devilish  and  insane  rage  to  assassinate  the  merciful 


21 

and  kind  Northern  Magistrate  and  given  them  a  Southern  Judge. 
If  "  his  little  finger  "  should  prove  "  thicker  "  than  his  predecessor's 
"  loins,"  they  will  be  compelled  to  remember  that  the  threatened, 
justified  and  finally  accomplished  assassination  of  Friday  last  was 
the  fruit  of  their  own  devices.  God  has  suffered  them  to  kill  the  son 
of  Consolation  to  give  them  a  son  of  Thunder. 

If  President  Lincoln  had  not  done  his  work  he  would  have  been 
spared  to  the  People.  No  weapon  forged  against  him  could  pros- 
per, no  murderous  plan  prevail  while  God  had  need  of  him,  while 
his  life  was  essential  to  the  nation.  Doth  not  the  Lord  God  Omnipo- 
tent reign  ?  Who  kept  the  pistol  and  the  dagger  from  our  lamented 
President  for  more  than  four  years?  His  life  was  always  threat- 
ened ;  there  has  not  been  an  hour  since  his  first  inaugural  when  there 
was  not  a  conspiracy  to  murder  him ;  men  bound  themselves  by  oath 
as  in  the  days  of  Paul  to  kill  him  —  but  not  until  he  reached  the 
number  of  his  months,  not  until  his  work  was  done,  could  the  assas- 
sins prevail.  And  as  surely  as  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth, 
so  surely  he  has  something  for  Andrew  Johnson  to  do,  or  He  would 
not  in  his  providence  have  placed  him  in  the  Presidential  chair. 

I  do  not  suppose  the  entire  South  are  involved  in  the  guilt  of  this 
detestible  crime  —  but  there  is  a  class  at  the  South,  represented  by 
the  men  who  fired  the  city  of  New  York,  and  committed  robbery 
and  murder  at  St.  Albans,  who  are  responsible  for  this  crime.  When 
an  amiable  and  skillful  physician,  a  man  of  high  literary  standing, 
went  from  this  city  some  three  years  since  as  a  surgeon,  he  became 
a  correspondent  of  one  of  our  city  papers.  He  had  a  charge  of  rebel 
prisoners,  and  in  one  of  his  communications  he  said,  after  speaking 
of  the  poor  whites  kindly,  that  there  was  a  class  who  ought  not 
to  be  suffered  to  live.  Some  of  our  citizens  expressed  surprise  at 
such  a  declaration  coming  from  Dr.  Hunt.  It  was  no  enigma  to 
me,  for  during  my  residence  South  I  saw  something  of  this  class, 
and  I  said  then,  and  now  say,  that  they  were,  and  are  dangerous  at 
any  time  and  in  any  community.  Before  they  commenced  this  war 
and  expended  their  wrath  and  malice  and  malignity  upon  us,  they 
were  slaughtering  each  other.  They  were  the  hangers  on  to  the 
slaveholders,  half  educated,  poor  and  wholly  insolent,  "  full  of  mur- 
der, debate,  deceit,  and  malignity,"  always  armed  and  always  ready 
for  a  deadly  quarrel.  Men  not  merely  "  wanting  principle  and 
wanting  bread,"  like  Northern  demagogues,  but  full  of  active  malice, 


22 

ready  to  stab  a  man  for  a  word;  not  merely  duelists,  but  assassins, 
with  no  regard  whatever  for  human  life.  These  villians  have  been 
the  authors  of  this  war,  they  have  been  made  officers  of  companies 
and  regiments  in  the  Southern  army,  and  in  them  has  been  and  is 
the  virus  of  the  rebellion.  Our  murdered  prisoners,  whose  blood 
cries  aloud  from  the  ground  to  God  for  vengeance,  were  their 
victims. 

It  is  not  likely  that  Secretary  Seward,  if  he  survives,  will  be  able 
longer  to  serve  his  country  in  the  arduous  post  of  Secretary  of  State. 
Perhaps  no  man  in  the  land  was  so  qualified  for  the  position  he  has 
occupied  during  the  war  as  Mr.  Seward.  His  suavity,  his  ingenuity, 
his  subtlety,  together  with  his  great  ability,  made  him  more  than  a 
match  for  the  ablest  diplomatists  of  Europe.  More  than  any  other 
man,  he  has  kept  foreign  war  from  our  doors,  and  his  services  have 
been  continued  until  the  danger  was  past  by  the  overturn  of  the  re- 
bellion. If  he  is  laid  aside,  it  is  because  his  work  is  done,  and  be- 
cause others  may  do  that  which  remains. 

There  is  a  solemn  significance  in  the  removal  of  President  Lincoln 
in  such  a  manner,  and  at  such  a  time.  The  Lord  God  Omnipotent, 
who  reigneth  in  the  armies  of  Heaven  and  among  the  inhabitants  of 
the  earth,  teaches  us  the  instability  of  fortune,  and  the  uncertainty 
of  life.  Our  President  was  in  a  position  which  commanded  the  at- 
tention and  the  homage  of  the  world.  Newly  elected  by  an  over- 
whelming vote,  his  administration  approved  and  his  acts  confirmed 
by  the  people  —  recently  inaugurated  the  second  time,  with  the 
plaudits  and  blessings  of  the  nation,  there  seemed  nothing  necessary 
to  his  felicity  but  the  final  overthrow  of  the  insurrection  which  has 
so  long  and  persistently  assaulted  the  national  life.  This  consum- 
mation was  vouchsafed  to  him;  the  fall  of  Richmond  and  the  sur- 
render of  Lee  substantially  closed  the  war,  and  President  Lincoln 
might  have  said,  "  Lord,  now  lettest  Thou  Thy  servant  depart  in 
peace."  Yet  he  was  in  the  prime  of  life  —  in  the  vigor  of  his  years. 
There  was  before  him  the  promise  of  a  glorious  future.  A  half  mil- 
lion of  gallant  soldiers,  flushed  with  victory,  were  under  his  orders, 
any  one  of  whom  would  have  interposed  his  body  and  given  his  life 
to  shield  the  President  from  the  shot  of  an  assassin; — he  was  en- 
throned in  the  hearts  of  millions  of  people,  whose  love  and  rever- 
ence were  seen  in  the  tears  and  prayers  and  lamentations  with  which 
they  received  the  news  of  his  death.  But  no  prayers,  no  tears,  no 


23 

gallant  defenders  could  save  him  when  the  number  of  his  days 
was  reached.  We  hear  a  voice  from  heaven  saying :  "  Boast  not 
thyself  of  to-morrow."  "  Verily  every  man  at  his  best  estate  is 
altogether  vanity." 

"  The  glories  of  our  birth  and  state 

Are  shadows,  not  substantial  things ; 
There  is  no  armor  against  fate ; 
Death  lays  his  icy  hands  on  kings. 
Sceptre  and  crown 
Must  tumble  down, 
And  in  the  dust  be  equal  made 
With  the  poor,  crooked  scythe  and  spade." 

X 

There  is  another  solemn  proof  of  the  necessity  of  the  war,  and 
that  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  who  reigneth  has  suffered  it  for  a 
just  purpose  and  to  a  wise  end ;  whatever  might  have  been  thought 
of  American  slavery  before  the  war,  and  whatever  apology  might 
have  been  honestly  made  for  it,  events  which  have  occurred  within 
the  last  four  years  have  served  to  show  that  its  influence  has  been 
utterly  barbarizing.  The  conduct  of  the  enemy  at  Bull  Run  was 
most  vindictive  and  unscrupulous,  and  the  most  brutish  acts  Avere 
perpetrated  upon  our  prisoners  and  our  dead,  to  gratify  their  base 
and  ferocious  passions.  Some  of  our  unfortunate  men  had  been 
buried  in  an  inhuman  manner,  while  from  others,  skulls  and  bones 
had  been  taken  and  fashioned  into  cups  and  ornaments  for  Southern 
ladies.  No  such  atrocity  has  been  recorded  in  history  for  five  hun- 
dred years,  and  now  the  brutal  murder  of  the  President,  and  the 
murderous  assault  upon  Mr.  Seward  and  his  family,  constitutes  the 
last  crowning  acts  of  their  brutality.  If  these  things  have  not  their 
root  and  virus  in  slavery,  whence  are  they?  The  people  of  the  South- 
ern States  are  of  the  same  race.  They  have  the  same  Bible  —  the 
same  common  law  with  Christianity  for  its  basis.  Whence  then 
this  monstrous  cruelty  —  this  beastly  barbarism  ? 

Had  the  South  succeeded  they  would  have  made  slavery  perpet- 
ual and  aggressive  and  perhaps  dominant ;  and  what  could  have  been 
the  result  but  the  barbarism  of  the  entire  continent,  a  return  to  the 
dark  ages,  an  obliteration  of  the  reforms  and  the  progress  of  a  thou- 
sand years?  God,  who  planted  this  nation  and  sifted  all  Europe  for 
three  hundred  years  to  colonize  the  New  World  with  a  peculiar  peo- 


24 

pie,  a  chosen  generation  and  a  royal  priesthood,  to  furnish  an  exam- 
ple to  the  down-trodden  nations  of  a  free  Church  and  free  State, 
could  not  suffer  this  purpose  to  be  defeated.  The  Mayflower  was 
not  saved  from  shipwreck  in  her  passage  across  the  stormy  Atlan- 
tic ;  our  fathers  were  not  delivered  from  the  pestilence  that  swept 
off  the  savage  foe  lying  in  ambush  for  their  lives ;  they  did  not  en- 
dure poverty  and  famine  in  the  land  of  their  exile,  to  have  their 
divinely  appointed  work  crushed  under  the  heel  of  a  remorseless 
slaveocracy.  Hence  this  war  —  hence  its  result  —  hence  the  martyr- 
dom of  our  beloved  President,  which  must  serve  to  fasten  in  every 
mind  an  everlasting  abhorrence  of  a  system  producing  such  effects, 
and  which  will  lead  every  father  in  the  land  to  swear  his  children 
to  an  undying  hatred  to  every  form  of  servitude,  as  HamilcaT  swore 
Hannibal  upon  the  altars  of  Carthage  to  eternal  hatred  to  Rome. 

Brethren,  fellow-citizens,  and  friends,  let  us  not  be  utterly  cast 
down,  for  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth.  He  guides  the  whirl- 
wind and  directs  the  storm,  He  brings  good  out  of  evil  and  light 
out  of  darkness,  He  causes  the  wrath  of  men  to  praise  Him,  and  re- 
strains the  remainder.  Let  us  thank  God  that  he  has  spared  our 
venerated  President  so  long,  and  permitted  him  to  behold  on  the 
mount  of  a  sure  anticipation  the  promised  Canaan  of  peace  and 
union.  As  Moses  the  leader  and  law-giver  of  the  Hebrews  was 
shown  the  promised  land,  and  yet  not  suffered  to  enter,  so  God  gave 
President  Lincoln  a  view  of  coming  glory  from  captured  Richmond, 
and  then  called  him  to  his  rest.  Our  murdered  President  needs  no 
eulogy,  for  his  works  do  follow  him.  He  has  been  our  God-given 
pilot  through  the  storm  of  war,  and  brought  us  in  sight  of  the  port 
of  peace. 

If  George  Washington  was  the  father  of  his  country,  Abraham 
Lincoln  is  its  restorer.  He  has  been  the  representative  man  of  his 
day  in  the  battle  for  freedom.  He  has  a  monument  more  durable 
than  brass  in  the  hearts  of  the  American  people.  He  needs  no  mar- 
ble, no  emblazoned  escutcheon,  —  he  lives  forever  in  history,  and  is 
henceforth  enrolled  in  the  records  of  mankind  among  the  great  mar- 
tyrs of  liberty.  The  sturdy  yeomen  of  the  land  from  whom  he  de- 
scended, and  who  placed  him  in  power,  and  the  grateful  slaves  whose 
bonds  he  sundered,  will  guard  his  name  and  fame  with  sleepless 
vigilance,  and  point  their  descendants  to  his  grave  as  the  shrine  of 
American  freedom.  God  grant  that  he  may  be  the  LAST,  as  he  is 


25 

the  most  illustrious  victim  of  that  vast  army  who  have  fallen  for 
freedom;  that  this  last  and  noblest  sacrifice  may  consummate  the 
work  of  expiation  for  a  nation's  guilt. 

As  the  illustrious  dead  has  gone  to  give  an  account  of  the  deeds 
done  in  the  body  —  to  answer  to  the  responsibilities  of  the  wide 
sphere  of  action  and  the  large  stewardship  committed  to  him,  so 
every  one  of  us  shall  soon  pass  to  the  same  dread  tribunal,  to  re- 
ceive a  judgment  according  to  our  works;  for  he  who  had  one  tal- 
ent, is  represented  by  our  Lord  as  called  to  account  with  him  that 
had  ten,  and  condemned  because  he  had  hidden  his  Lord's  money! 
Happy  and  blessed  are  they  who  have  taken  sanctuary  in  Him  who 
is  as  "  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land;"  "  who  died  for 
our  sins,  and  rose  again  for  our  justification;"  "  who  is  able  to  save 
to  the  uttermost  all  that  come  unto  God  by  Him : "  who  gave  one 
hour  of  triumph  to  the  powers  of  darkness,  that  he  might  win  for 
us  eternal  redemption  from  Death  and  Hell;  exclaiming,  as  he  as- 
cended in  triumph,  bearing  gifts  for  men,  "  O  death,  I  will  be  thy 
plagues !  O  grave,  I  will  be  thy  destruction !  " 

Concerning  "  our  strong  rods  broken  and  withered,"  we  may  con- 
clude with  the  ancient  lamentation  of  Moses,  the  man  of  God,  re- 
corded in  the  ninetieth  Psalm :  "Thou  turneth  man  to  destruction ; 
and  sayest,  Return,  ye  children  of  men.  Thou  carriest  them  away 
as  with  a  flood ;  they  are  as  a  sleep ;  in  the  morning  they  are  like 
grass  which  groweth  up.  In  the  morning  it  flourisheth,  and  grow- 
eth  up ;  in  the  evening  it  is  cut  down,  and  withereth.  For  we  are 
consumed  by  thine  anger,  and  by  thy  wrath  are  we  troubled.  Re- 
.turn,  O  Lord,  how  long?  and  let  it  repent  thee  concerning  thy  ser- 
vants. O  satisfy  us  early  with  thy  mercy  ;  that  we  may  rejoice  and 
be  glad  all  our  days.  Make  us  glad  according  to  the  days  wherein 
thou  hast  afflicted  us,  and  the  years  wherein  we  have  seen  evil.  Let 
thy  work  appear  unto  thy  servants,  and  thy  glory  unto  their  chil- 
dren. And  let  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon  us:  and  es- 
tablish thou  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us;  yea,  the  work  of  our 
hands,  establish  thou  it." 

On  Sunday  morning,  at  the  North  Presbyterian  Church, 
the  pastor,  Rev.  Henry  Smith,  D.  D.,  made  the  following 
remarks : 


26 


BEFORE   THE    SERMON. 

IT)  RETHREW  AND  FRIENDS:  If  my  heart  were  not  already  pro- 
-*-*  founclly  oppressed  and  troubled,  the  weeping  heavens,  yonder 
drooping  banners  of  the  Republic,  this  pulpit  and  the  walls  of  this 
temple  of  God  draped  in  black,  yea,  the  sorrowful  countenances  be- 
fore me,  would  sufficiently  admonish  me  that  we  meet  this  morning 
under  the  dark  shadow  of  a  great  national  calamity.  Sympathizing 
myself  most  deeply  and  fully  in  your  grief,  I  needed  no  such  admoni- 
tion. Knowing  from  my  own,  the  conflicting  and  struggling  emo- 
tions which  agitate  your  breasts,  I  have  even  doubted  whether  to 
address  you  at  all.  It  is  yet  too  early  to  give  to  these  tumultuous 
feelings  an  interpretation,  much  more  is  it  too  early  to  give  to  them 
an  appropriate  expression.  But  can  we  bear  to  speak  or  to  think 
of  anything  else?  My  friends,  Abraham  Lincoln  is  dead;  but  the 
Almighty  Ruler  of  the  universe  still  lives.  The  administration  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  the  father  of  a  regenerated  country,  the  first  mar- 
tyr President  in  the  cause  of  American  liberty,  is  at  an  end :  but  the 
holy  government  of  God,  and  the  laws  of  his  glorious  and  univer- 
sal empire  still  survive.  Yea,  Christ  and  the  precepts  of  his  blessed 
gospel  still  remain.  The  responsibilities  and  duties  of  the  living  fol- 
lowers of  Christ,  lifted  from  him  Avho  is  now  with  God,  still  rest 
upon  us.  I  do  not  desire  to  divert  from  their  natural  channel  the 
full  currents  of  your  grief.  But  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 
can  we  do  better  than  to  turn  away  our  thoughts  for  a  few  minutes, 
from  man  to  God?  from  the  condition  of  our  earthly  country  to 
the  principles  and  precepts  of  that  spiritual  realm  which  is  revealed 
to  us  in  the  gospel  ?  I  have,  therefore,  resolved  to  preach  to  you 
a  short  discourse,  which  I  was  preparing  for  the  day,  before  the  in- 
telligence of  the  sad  calamity,  which  has  befallen  us,  had  reached  our 
ears ;  adding  at  the  close  such  an  application  to  our  present  national 
circumstances  as  the  suddenness,  and  horror  of  this  awful  tragedy  per- 
mits to  one  whose  thoughts  and  feelings  are  as  deeply  agitated  as 
your  own. 

AT   THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    SERMON. 

CHRISTIAN  BRETHREN:  This  is  the  first  occasion  on  which  I  have 
been  with  you  since  the  fall  of  Richmond,  and  it  is  the  holy  Sabbath 
succeeding  a  week  in  which  our  hearts  had  been  thrilled  by  the 
news  of  the  surrender  of  the  chief  army  which  sustained  the  rebel- 


27 

lion  of  the  South  against  our  national  government.  This  glorious 
news  had  lifted  the  whole  nation  into  the  sphere  of  rapture ;  into  a 
mood  of  mind  which  could  find  no  adequate  expression  except  in  a 
repetition  of  the  song  of  the  angels  at  the  advent  of  the  prince  of 
peace  :  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest;  on  earth  peace  and  good-will 
to  men."  I  should  not  have  met  your  expectations,  nor  done  justice 
to  my  own  emotions,  if  I  had  purposely  omitted  at  least  to  allude 
to  these  tidings  of  great  joy.  They  are,  indeed,  tidings  of  great 
joy,  not  merely  to  us,  as  a  nation,  but  to  all  the  world,  for  however 
ill-appreciated  they  may  be,  by  large  portions  of  mankind,  who  do 
not  yet  understand  the  methods  by  which  Christ's  kingdom  is  to  come 
on  the  earth,  the  great  events  which  they  herald  are  in  fact  a  part 
of  those  glorious  triumphs  by  which  the  kingdom,  and  the  greatness 
of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  are  to  be  given  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Saints  of  the  Most  High  God. 

We  stand  to-day  before  the  King  of  heaven,  aghast,  astonished, 
paralyzed,  a  nation  without  a  head.  The  national  heart  has  ceased 
to  beat,  and  our  tongue  cleaves  to  the  roof  of  our  mouth.  Yonder 
in  the  capital  lies  the  body  of  our  President,,  cold  in  death;  and  by 
his  side,  if  still  living,  the  gasping  form  of  his  chief  counsellor,  the 
Secretary  of  State,  victims  alike  of  a  Satanic  plot  of  desperate  treach- 
ery and  vengeance.  Never  before,  since  William  the  Silent  fell 
pierced  by  the  slugs  of  Belthazar  Gerard,  has  so  horrible  a  crime 
shocked  the  sensibilities  of  the  civilized  world.  Never  before  has  so 
awful  and  so  purposeless  a  tragedy  been  enacted  upon  the  high  thea- 
tre of  a  nation's  life.  It  is  the  expiring  sting  of  the  dragon  of  treason, 
venomous  and  vindictive  even  in  its  death  throes.  It  is  yet  too 
early  to  read  its  full  meaning,  or  to  calculate  its  full  results.  We 
trusted  that  it  had  been  he  who  should  fully  have  redeemed  our  Is- 
rael. But  "  my  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts,  neither  your  ways 
i  my  ways,  saith  the  Lord.  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God.  Put 
not  your  trust  in  princes,  nor  in  the  son  of  man,  in  whom  there  is 
no  help.  His  breath  goeth  forth  ;  he  returneth  to  his  earth ;  in  that 
very  day  his  thoughts  perish.  Happy  is  he  that  hath  the  God  of 
Jacob  for  his  help,  whose  hope  is  in  the  Lord  his  God,  wrhich  made 
heaven  and  earth,  the  sea  and  all  that  therein  is ;  which  keepeth 
truth  forever;  which  execute th judgment  for  the  oppressed;  which 
giveth  food  to  the  hungry.  The  Lord  looseth  the  prisoners ;  the 
Lord  raiseth  them  that  are  bowed  down.  The  Lord  loveth  the 


28 

righteous.  He  relieveth  the  fatherless  and  the  widow ;  but  the  way 
of  the  wicked  he  turneth  upside  down.  The  Lord  shall  reign  for- 
ever ;  even  thy  God,  O  Zion,  unto  all  generations." 

My  friends,  we  are  to  be  saved  and  purified  as  a  nation.  I  have 
no  doubt  of  it.  But  God  is  to  do  it,  not  man.  He  will  claim  all 
the  glory,  and  yield  no  portion  of  it  to  his  instruments.  God's  hand 
was  in  the  very  wickedness  which  plotted  and  begun  this  terrible 
war ;  overruling  it  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  great  designs  of 
mercy ;  God's  hand  has  conducted  it,  leading  us,  both  rulers  and 
people,  by  a  path  we  dreamed  not  of;  God's  hand  has  cut  it  short 
in  righteousness,  has  brought  it  to  a  conclusion,  which,  awful  and 
unexpected  as  it  is,  we  may  be  sure  will  vindicate  alike  his  justice 
and  his  mercy :  will  impress  upon  the  nation,  as  no  other  event 
could  have  done,  that  he  is  the  real  governor,  guide  and  protector 
of  the  Republic :  challenging,  as  nothing  else  could  have  done,  our 
recognition  of  his  presence,  and  our  obedience  to  the  laws  of  his 
holy  and  universal  empire.  Even  that  dear  heart,  which  now  has 
ceased  to  beat,  went  before  the  nation  in  this  reverent  acknowledg- 
ment of  God :  humbly  owned  that  he  had  been  led  in  his  adminis- 
tration by  a  higher  than  any  human  hand,  and  by  a  way  which  his 
own  Avisdom  could  never  have  devised.  In  the  midst  of  the  bitter 
tears  of  disappointment  and  sorrow,  which  have  so  suddenly  flood- 
ed the  national  heart,  in  the  full  tide  of  jubilant  rejoicings,  let  us  re- 
member his  profound  acknowledgment  of  God's  hand  in  the  conduct 
of  our  national  affairs ;  and  so  far  forth,  at  least,  let  us  follow  his 
example.  Thankful  to  God  for  all  he  has  enabled  him  to  accom- 
plish for  the  deliverence  of  the  Republic  from  the  machinations  of 
treason,  let  us  henceforth  seat  ourselves  at  the  feet  of  this  higher 
than  any  human  teachers. 

How  solemn  the  emphasis,  which  this  act  of  inhuman  treachery 
and  blood,  deeper  dyed  in  guilt  than  any  regicide  in  the  history 
of  the  world,  adds  to  the  second  word,  with  which  it  was  my  orig- 
inal purpose  to  conclude  this  discourse.  That  word  was,  that  in 
their  civil  relations  and  their  civil  actions,  the  followers  of  Christ 
are  to  be  holy.  We  are  to  keep  ourselves  unspotted  from  the 
world.  We  are  to  acknowledge  God,  and  the  laws  of  his  holy  king- 
dom, in  our  civil  relations  and. in  our  civil  actions,  no  less  than  in 
all  the  other  relations  and  acts  of  our  earthly  lives.  God  has 
taught  us,  O  by  what  sad  and  solemn  and  bloody  lessons  of  na- 


29 

tional  retribution  and  suffering,  that  he  is  the  God  of  nations  as 
well  as  of  individuals.     God  has  taught  us  that  when  the  wicked 
rule,  the  people  mourn.     If  the  events  of  the  last  four  terrible  years, 
if  this  awful  and  concluding  tragedy  of  the  war,  does  not  burn  that 
lesson  into  our  very  soul,  we  must  be  brutish  indeed.     Whatever 
may  have  been  true  of  us  in  the  past,  if  we  have  any  capacity  to 
learn  in  the  school  of  Providence,  we  are  no  longer  to  be  seduced 
by  the  sophistry  of  demagogues  and  placemen  to  talk  about  policy, 
.  to  ignore  justice :  in  the  election  of  rulers,  we  are  no  longer  to  talk 
about  availability,  and  ignore  rectitude  and  the  moralities  of  life  as 
necessary  qualifications  in  candidates  for  civil  office.     We  owe  all 
the  horrors  and  sufferings  of  this  war  to  bad  men  in  power.     Trea- 
son commenced  its  work  in  the  capital,  by  perjury.    It  has  finished 
its  work,  and  thank  God  its  own  execrable  life  as  well,  by  the  as- 
sassination in  the  capital  of  the  most  benign  and  clement  as  well  as 
pure-hearted,  righteous  and  venerated  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  na- 
tion.    Above  all  this  awful  scene  of  wickedness,  woe  and  death,  sat, 
and  still  sits,  the  avenging  Nemesis  of  divine  and  eternal  retribu- 
tion.    The  strokes  of  God  have  fallen,  we  may  be  sure,  with  an  un- 
erring aim.     True,  indeed,  the  heaviest  blow  of  the  divine  justice 
have  fallen  upon  that  section  of  the  country  whose  corrupt  leaders 
plotted  and  attempted  to  consummate  the  destruction  of  the  na- 
tion's life.     But  the  terrible  woes  which  the  loyal  States  have  suf- 
fered, terminating  in  the  fearful  tragedy  which,  on  Friday  night, 
robbed  the  nation  of  its  head,  ought  to  teach  iis  that  God  has  had, 
and  still  has,  somewhat  against  us  also.     What  that  "  somewhat " 
is,  how  light  or  how  heavy  the  national  guilt  which  it  involves,  we 
will  not  to-day  any  further  inquire.     From  the  stunning  blow  which 
has  fallen  upon  us  we  have  not  yet  sufficiently  recovered  distinctly 
to  read  the  lessons  which  it  was  designed  to  teach.     Our  hearts  are 
too  troubled  and  sorrowful  for  calm  and  consecutive  thought.     But 
let  us  at  least  acknowledge  that  the  hand  of  God  is  pressing  heavily 
upon  us.    Let  us  at  least  endeavor  to  obey  the  admonition  of  his 
word:    In  the  day  of  prosperity  rejoice ;  but  in  the  day  of  adversity 
consider.    Let  us  humble  ourselves  under  the  afflictive  hand  of  the 
Almighty,  and  whilst  we  mingle  our  sympathetic  tears  with  those 
of  the  heart-stricken  families  of  our  slaughtered  rulers,  and  our  pat- 
riotic tears  with  those  of  a  whole  people  bowed  down  under  the 
weight  of  a  great  national  SOITOAV,  let  us  humbly  and  penitently  im- 


30 

plore  him  to  make  us  understand  the  lessons  which  he  designs  to 
teach  us  by  this  awful  event.  Let  us  confess  before  him  the  sins  of 
the  nation :  especially  that  great  sin  —  our  national  forgetfulness  of 
God.  Let  us  seek  his  grace  to  enable  us  to  put  far  from  us  in  the 
future,  everything  in  our  individual  and  national  life  which  has 
offended  him  in  the  past.  Let  us  pray. 

On  Sunday  evening,  at  the  Lafayette  Street  Presby- 
terian Church,  after  the  usual  introductory  services,  at 
the  request  of  Dr.  Heacock,  the  story  of  the  assassination 
of  William,  the  Silent  was  read  by  Rev.  Mr.  Furman. 
Dr.  Heacock  then  offered  a  few  remarks.  He  sakl : 

F  REFER  first  to  the  historic  instance  which  has  just  been  read, 
•*•  in  order  to  check  the  desperate  thoughts  which  the  feeling  that 
nothing  like  this  crime — the  assassination  of  our  noble  President — 
has  ever  occiirred  in  human  history,  would  provoke.  Fiendish  ma- 
lignity and  hate  have  found  such  expression  before.  Nor  is  such  an 
event  as  this  to  darken  into  solitary  gloom  the  fate  of  a  good  man. 
The  good  and  the  great  have  fallen  by  just  such  dastardly  means 
before.  In  the  words  which  accompanied  this  bloody  act,  there  was 
evidenced  a  mind  as  stolid  and  pointless*as  it  was  brutal :  "  Sic  semper 
tyrannis."  These  words  uttered  to  justify  the  murder  of  a  constitu- 
tional President,  administering  a  free  and  Avritten  Constitution !  Had 
the  poor  wretch  flourished  any  other  shred  of  Latin  it  would  have 
been  quite  as  applicable.  No  good  man  dies  before  his  time, x'  we 
are  immortal  till  our  work  is  done."  Our  murdered  President  has 
gone  to  join  and  complete  the  glorious  roll  of  our  martyrs  in  this 
war ;  to  lay  his  honored  dust  beside  the  humblest  grave  of  the  hum- 
blest soldier  of  the  Republic. 

My  .friends,  let  us  breathe  no  spirit  of  revenge  either  against  the 
authors  of  this  guilty  treason  or  this  atrocious  assassination.  Yet 
let  us  beware  of  those  who  are  seeking  for  the  most  selfish  of  pur- 
poses to  excite  sympathy  for  this  treason  and  its  authors.  God  for- 
bid that  the  Christian  pulpit  should  ever  be  left  to  utter  any  words 
which  would  be  approved  by  those  most  mercenary  enemies  of  their 
country,  the  Northern  sympathizers  with  Southern  treason.  It  has 


31 

been  said  the  South  was  provoked  to  all  this.  Who  provoked  them 
to  starve  our  prisoners?  shoot  our  soldiers  who  had  surrendered? 
or  to  assassinate  our  good  and  great  Chief  Magistrate  ? 

It  is  said  that  this  sad  event  has  killed  the  spirit  of  party.  Ah! 
to  destroy  that  our  murdered  President,  I  believe,  would  freely  die 
again.  With  slavery  dead  and  the  bad  spirit  of  party  dead  the  coun- 
try is  surely  redeemed !  It  is  said  the  South  has  slain  its  best  friend : 
to  such  madness  God  has  left  them  at  every  step  of  their  course. 
"  Whom  the  gods  would  destroy  they  first  make  mad." 

Yet  let  us  not  think  God  has  abandoned  this  land.  He  has  great 
and  rich  purposes  of  mercy  toward  it.  The  prayers  of  the  fathers 
and  all  its  history  assure  this.  Let  us  fear  not.  He  who  gave  to 
us  such  a  man  as  him  we  mourn  can  raise  us  up  others  in  our  need. 

After  the  singing  of  a  hymn : 

"  Servant  of  God  well  done," 

Dr.  Lord  next  addressed  the   crowded  congregation. 

The  irrepressible  sympathy  of  the  audience  broke  out  in 
expressions  which  yet  seemed  not  at  all  inconsistent  with 
the  gravity  of  the .  occasion,  the  time  or  the  place.  It 
seemed  like  an  audible,  reverent  Amen,  though  it  took 
another  form.  We  have  never  heard  Dr.  Lord  exceed 
himself  in  the  words  of  this  evening.  The  substance  of 
his  address  is  given  in  another  part  of  this  pamphlet, 
though  it  was  not  a  mere  repetition  of  himself,  but  he 
spoke  as  one  out  of  a  full  heart. 

Dr.  Lord  was  followed  in  most  earnest,  ringing,  elo- 
quent words,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Plumb,  of  Chelsea,  Mass.,  who 
presented  some  of  the  moral  aspects  of  this  dread  crime 
and  the  need  of  sustaining  the  sentiment  of  public  and 
governmental  justice  in  the  punishment  of  high  crimes. 


32 

After  which  —  with  one  more  tender  thought  of  the 
the  pale,  sad,  silent  face  of  our  dead  President  as  he  lay 
in  the  quiet  sleep  of  death  in  the  still  chambers  of  the 
Federal  mansion  —  and  with  a  hymn  of  holy  trust : 

"O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past/'  etc.,  etc.:  — 

after  the  Christian  benediction  by  Dr.  Lord  —  the  vast 
assembly  slowly  dispersed!  Never  had  there  been  such  a 
day  in  that  sanctuary. 

THE  BOARD  OF  TRADE. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Board  on  Saturday  morning,  the 
President,  S.  H.  Fish,  Esq.,  called  the  members  to  order, 
saying,  "  All  know  the  solemn  circumstances  under  which 
we  meet ;  no  tongue  can  utter  a  word ;  every  heart  is 
wrung  with  anguish." 

L.  K.  Plimpton  offered  the  following  resolution : 

RESOLVED,  That  in  view  of  the  terrible  calamity  which  has  be- 
fallen this  country  by  the  assassination  of  its  Chief  Magistrate, 
a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  President  to  prepare  suit- 
able resolutions,  expressive  of  the  sense  of  this  Board  under  such  a 
bereavement,  and  present  the  same  to  the  Board  at  the  usual  time 
of  meeting  on  Monday  next,  and  that  the  committee  be  authorized 
to  drape  this  room  with  suitable  insignia  of  mourning  for  thirty 
days ;  and  also  to  co-operate  with  other  committees  that  may  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Common  Council  or  citizens  in  relation  to  this  sad 
event. 

Adopted  unanimously. 

The  Chair  appointed  the  following  gentlemen  as  the 


33 

committee :  —  L.  K.  Plimpton,  N.  C.  Simons,  B.  F.  Bruce, 
J.  S.  Buell,  Win.  Timrstone,  L.  T.  Kimball. 
On  motion  of  D.  S.  Bennett, 

T)  ESOLVED,  That  the  doors  of  this  room  be  now  clqsetl  and 
-^-*J  draped  with  the  proper  insignia  of  mourning;  and  that  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  are  hereby  requested  to  suspend  business  for  the 
day. 

Adopted  unanimously. 
The  Board  then  adjourned. 

On  the  following  Monday,  an  adjourned  meeting,  with 
reference  to  the  great  national  calamity,  was  held  by  the 
Board  of  Trade.  The  spacious  room  was  crowded  to  its 
utmost  capacity.  The  hall  had  been  beautifully  and  ap- 
propriately draped  and  decorated,  the  walls  being  nearly 
covered  with  the  insignia  of  grief.  The  decoration  was 
made  under  the  direction  of  M.  St.  Ody,  assisted  by  a 
committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  B.  F.  Bruce,  Geo.  T.  Bent- 
ley,  Win.  Thurstone,  L.  T.  Kimball,  and  others. 

The  President  of  the  Board,  S.  H.  Fish,  Esq.,  was  in 
the  chair  and  the  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Lord.  L.  K.  Plimpton,  Esq.,  then  offered  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions : 

WHEREAS,  by  a  resolution  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  adopted  at 
its  last  meeting,  the  undersigned  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  prepare  suitable  resolutions  expressive  of  the  sense  of  this  Board 
in  view  of  the  terrible  calamity  which  had  befallen  this  country  by 
the  assassination  of  its  Chief  Magistrate,  and  to  drape  this  room  with 
suitable  insignia  of  mourning  for  thirty  days,  and  also  to  co-operate 


34 

with  other  committees  that  may  be  appointed  by  the  Common  Coun- 
cil or  citizens  in  relation  to  this  sad  event :  your  committee  would 
therefore  state  that  they  have  caused  the  Board  of  Trade  rooms  to 
be  duly  draped  in  mourning,  and  with  great  hesitation  have  under- 
taken, with  feelings  of  profound  sadness,  and  in  a  community  of 
heart-stricken  people,  to  prepare  such  an  expression  as  would  faint- 
ly indicate  the  views  and  feelings  of  this  Board  in  view  of  the  great 
calamity  which  has  overwhelmed  our  common  country,  and  there- 
fore present  the  following  for  yoxir  consideration  : 

WJiereas,  in  view  of  the  tragical  and  lamentable  event  which  lias 
appalled  the  people  of  this  nation,  by  the  assassination  of  our  great 
and  good  President,  and  in  the  deadly  assault  upon  New  York's  fa- 
vorite son,  the  wise  and  sagacious  Secretary  of  State,  and  the  mem- 
bers of  his  family  —  that  it  becomes  us,  located  at  the  Empire  Gate- 
way of  the  Eastern  States,  as  citizens  of  Buffalo,  and  as  members  of 
the  Board  of  Trade  here  assembled,  to  give  such  expression  of  our 
views  as  may  be  consistent  and  appropriate  to  the  occasion  and  the 
mournful  circumstances  under  which  we  are  placed ;  therefore, 

Mesolved,  that  it  is  with  feelings  of  inexpressible  sadness  that  we 
recognize  the  great  calamity  which  has  befallen  the  people  of  this 
country  at  this  critical  .period  in  its  history,  and,  as  it  were,  in  the 
hour  of  its  triumph,  by  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  its  chosen 
Chief  Magistrate,  and  that  while  we  bow  humbly  to  the  Divine  will 
in  this  removal,  we  can  not  but  feel  that  in  His  good  purpose  He 
moves  in  a  mysterious  manner,  "and  that  his  ways  are  past  finding 
out." 

Resolved,  that  in  the  midst  of  joy  and  triumph,  the  nation  is  sud- 
denly called  to  deplore  the  loss  of  its  greatest  and  truest  friend, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  stricken  down  in 
the  fullness  of  life  to  a  martyr's  grave,  and  at  a  time  when  strongest 
in  the  hearts  of  a  grateful  people ;  and  in  his  death,  brought  about 
by  the  hands  of  a  traitor  assassin,  the  country  has  lost  the  noblest 
work  of  God  —  an  honest  man  —  and  an  exalted  patriot  —  the  friend 
of  the  poor  and  oppressed  —  the  deliverer  of  his  country  —  and  a 
second  Washington  in  the  hearts  of  a  sorrow-stricken  people. 

Resolved,  that  the  citizens  of  Buffalo  and  the  members  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  who  admired  and  loved  the  fallen  patriot  and  who 
have  so  generously  sustained  the  holy  cause  he  represented  may 
appropriately  testify  their  sorrow  over  this  national  calamity,  and  for 


35 

that  purpose  we  will  abstain  from  all  business  on  Wednesday  next, 
the  19th  instant,  and  unite  in  dedicating  the  day,  in  the  language  of 
the  Governor,  to  services  appropriate  to  a  season  of  national  be- 
reavement. 

Resolved,  that  to  the  afflicted  family  of  our  chosen  and  late  Chief 
Magistrate  we  tender  our  heartfelt  sympathies  in  this  their,  as  well 
as  their  country's,  hour  of  affliction,  commending  them  to  the  care 
of  Him  who  tempers  the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb,  who  will  also  care 
for  the  widow  and  fatherless. 

Resolved,  that  in  Andrew  Johnson,  the  constitutional  successor 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  President  of  the  United  States,  we  entertain 
the  utmost  confidence,  in  his  integrity,  his  patriotism  and  his  man- 
hood, and  following  in  the  footsteps  of  his  illustrious  predecessor, 
we  hereby  pledge  ourselves  to  give  him  our  undivided  and  unfalter- 
ing support,  imploring  the  blessings  of  God  to  grant  him  that  Avis- 
doni  in  counsel,  sound  conservative  policy,  prudence  as  well  as  en- 
ergy of  action,  patience,  single  devotion  to  the  cause  of  his  country, 
and  virtue,  which  characterized  his  lamented  predecessor. 

Resolved,  that  we  entertain  the  greatest  solicitude  for  the  criti- 
cal condition  of  our  worthy  and  sagacious  Secretary  of  State ;  that 
we  sympathise  with  him  in  his  afflictions,  and  hope  for  his  speedy 
restoration  to  health,  and  that  the  country  may  be  favored  for  many 
years  to  come  with  his  judicious  counsel  and  experienced  statesman- 
ship. 

Resolved,  that  this  Board  will  participate  in  such  public  demon- 
strations of  respect  to  the  memory  of  our  deceased  President  as  may 
be  determined  upon,  and  that  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by 
the  President  of  this  Board,  in  the  place  of  all  other  committees,  to 
co-operate  with  similar  committees  from  other  bodies  to  that  end. 

Resolved,  that  these  proceedings  and  resolutions  be  recorded  at 
length  in  the  book  of  the  minutes  of  this  Association,  and  copies 
thereof  be  furnished  to  the  press  of  the  city  for  publication ;  also, 
copies  be  transmitted  by  the  Secretary  of  this  Board  to  kindred 
associations. 

On  motion  of  G.  S.  Hazard,  Esq.,  the  preamble  and 
resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted. 

The  chair  appointed  the  following  committee : —  Messrs. 

3 


36 

L.  K.  Plimpton,  Gr.  S.  Hazard,  O.  L.  Nims,  D.  S.  Bennett, 
and  S.  S.  Guthrie. 

Rev.  Mr.  Allison  being  called  on,  spoke  as  follows : 

~TT  can  be  no  ordinary  event  which  brings  so  many  of  the  business 
*•  men  of  this  city  together  at  this  hour  of  the  day.  Your  sad 
countenances,  your  rooms  draped  with  mourning,  reiterate  the  ap- 
palling fact  which  has  thrilled  the  heart  of  this  nation  with  a  sorrow 
more  poignant  than  we  ever  felt  before.  Yes,  our  noble  President 
is  dead,  and  our  grief  has  strange  elements  mingled  with  it,  and  our 
sorrow  has  an  unwonted  tone.  He  fell  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin ! 
What  a  transition  from  the  peans  of  joy  in  which  the  late  victories 
were  celebrated  to  the  wail  of  sorrow  now  surging  around  the  body 
of  our  murdered  Chief  Magistrate.  How  poor  are  man's  words 
when  God  comes  forth  to  speak  to  the  people.  It  is,  nevertheless, 
our  duty,  gentlemen,  to  strive  to  mitigate  our  grief  with  whatever 
of  hope  may  lessen  the  sadness  of  this  hour.  May  not  blessings  be 
concealed  in  this  affliction? 

We  have  had  four  years  of  civil  war.  Our  energies  have  been 
devoted  to  one  object  —  the  overthrow  of  this  rebellion.  Your 
money,  your  brothers,  your  children,  have  been  laid  upon  the  altar 
of  your  country,  and  during  this  time  business  has  flourished,  for- 
tunes have  been  made  and  a  tide  of  unwonted  commercial  prosper- 
ity has  swept  over  the  land.  Amid  all  this  we  may  not  have  grown 
better.  Our  victories  were  possibly  leading  us  away  from  Him  who 
only  "maketh  wars  to  cease."  To-day  we  witness  the  unusual 
spectacle  of  strong  men  in  tears.  These  tears  will  do  the  nation 
good.  By  the  sadness  of  the  countenance  the  heart  is  made  better. 
It  is  a  blessing  to  men  whose  thoughts_are  wholly  given  to  business 
and  politics  to  be  humanized  and  softened,  even  if  some  great  calam- 
ity be  the  means. 

Under  free  governments  where  every  man's  right  to  express  his 
opinion  is  recognized  there  will  be  friction,  sometimes  contention, 
and  occasionally  strife.  During  a  warm  political  canvass  we  are 
too  apt,  like  Homer's  heroes,  to  first  quarrel  and  then  stand  apart, 
but  as  these  same  warriors  were  brought  together  by  a  common  ca- 
lamity, so  will  we  be  brought  face  to  face  in  the  'presence  of  this 
terrible  affliction.  Over  the  grave  of  our  murdered  President  we 


37 

will  forget  our  feuds  and  think  only  of  our  own  and  our  country's 
loss. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  death  will  strike  a  chord  which  will  vibrate  to  the 
'ends  of  the  earth.  Other  nations  will  feel  it  and  will  be  prompt  to 
express  their  abhorrence  of  the  crime  which  deprived  this  nation 
and  the  world  of  a  wise  and  good  man.  As  the  subject  of  a  coun- 
try nearer  by  many  bonds  to  this  nation  than  to  any  other,  I  hesi- 
tate not  to  say  that  causes  of  irritation  have  arisen .  during  this  re- 
bellion. Nor  can  I  exempt  from  blame  the  government  and  people 
of  Great  Britain.  This,  however,  is  not  the  occasion  to  discuss 
these  wrongs.  Whatever  delusion  may  have  warped  the  views  of 
European  governments,  will  now  be  dispelled.  When  it  is  seen 
that  the  animus  of  the  South  can  only  find  its  legitimate  expression 
in  assassination,  the  favor  with  which  it  has  been  regarded  abroad 
will  give  place  to  unmeasured  condemnation. 

The  people  of  Great  Britain,  especially,  will  be  filled  with  indig- 
nation when  the  afflicting  news  reach  their  shores,  and  they  will 
hasten  to  show  their  sympathy  for  this  sorrowing  land  —  a  sympa- 
thy as  deep  and  genuine  as  it  has  been  slow  and  cold  in  the  past. 

And,  Mr.  President,  if  these  two  great  nations  are  drawn  again 
into  that  close  intimacy  which  a  common  ancestry,  a  common  his- 
tory and  language  and  religion  and  civilization  and  interest  renders 
so  desirable,  we  can  not  but  rejoice. 

Mr.  Lincoln  will  now  be  considered  a  martyr  to  the  principles  of 
the  Union,  and  men  from  afar  will  begin  to  see  him  in  his  true  char- 
acter. His  stern  integrity,  his  republican  simplicity,  his  firmness 
in  the  hour  of  trial,  his  sagacity  as  a. statesman,  his  real  excellencies 
in  all  the  relations  of  life,  and  withal,  his  simple  and  unostentatious 
piety,  will  command  the  admiration  of  good  men  everywhere. 

The  Poet  Laureate  of  England  will  feel  the  force  of  his  own  pro- 
phetic words,  when  he  wrote  of  the  man  : 

Who  makes  by  force  his  merit  known, 

And  lives  to  clutch  the  golden  keys, 

To  mould  a  mighty  state's  decrees, 
And  shape  the, whisper  of  a  throne; 
And  moving  up  from  high  to  higher, 

Becomes  on  fortune's  crowning  slope 

Tha  pillar  of  a  people's  hope, 
The  centre  of  a  world's  desire. 


38 

Alas  that  the  pillar  is  broken;  but  let  us  be  thankful  that  the 
temple  is  complete,  founded  not  on  men  but  upon  principles  more 
lasting  than  men.  This  grief  will  hallow  the  nation.  Four  years 
in  the  furnace  made  hotter  than  is  wont,  will  purge  away  the  dross, 
will  bring  out  the  pure  gold.  Mr.  Lincoln  is  not  dead,  the  recti- 
tude of  his  character  —  the  soundness  of  his  views,  and  the  strength 
of  his  administration  still  live. 

"  Great  minds  can  never  cease ;  yet  have  they  not 
A  separate  estate  of  deathlessness, 
The  future  is  a  remnant  of  their  life  ; 
Our  time  is  part  of  theirs,  not  theirs  of  ours." 

Speeches  were  also  made  by  Rev.  Dr.  Lord,  Judge 
Clinton,  and  others ;  after  which  the  Doxology  was  sung, 
and  a  benediction  pronounced  by  Mr.  Allison. 


COMMON  COUNCIL. 

At  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Common  Council,  on 
Monday,  April  I'Tth,  the  following  communication  was 
received  from  His  Honor  Mayor  Fargo : 

BUFFALO,  April  17,  1865. 

To  the  Honorable  the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Buffalo : 
f^\  ENTLEMEN : — It  is  my  melancholy  duty  to  officially  commu- 
^-^  nicate  to  you  the  intelligence  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  President 
of  the  United  States,  was  assassinated  on  the  night  of  the  14th  inst., 
and  that  his  funeral  obsequies  will  take  place  at  Washington,  at 
noon  on  Wednesday  the  19th  inst. 

This  sad  calamity  —  the  more  distressing  because  it  has  befallen 
the  nation  at  a  time  when  the  events  of  the  war  and  the  policy  of 
the  President  gave  promise  of  the  restoration  of  peace  —  has  sud- 
denly changed  the  joy  of  the  people  to  the  most  profound  grief. 
We  mourn  not  only  the  loss  of  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  Republic, 
but  that  in  the  manner  of  his  death  a  blow  has  been  struck  at  the 


39 

national  life,  and  at  the  individual  security  of  every  citizen.  I 
scarcely  need  suggest  that  the  Council  take  suitable  action  in  refer- 
ence to  this  great  national  bereavement,  and  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  act  in  concert  with  the  committees  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  and  the  citizens,  in  making  arrangements  for  the  observance 
of  the  day  designated  for  the  funeral. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

WILLIAM  G.  FARGO,  Mayor. 

Aid.  Moores  moved  that  a  committee  of  five  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  chair  to  report  appropriate  resolutions  for 
the  consideration  of  this  Council.  Carried. 

Whereupon  the  chair  appointed  Aids.  Moores,  Bryant, 
Kyan,  Ambrose  and  Burgard  as  such  committee,  who  sub- 
mitted the  following : 

\\7~HEREAS,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States, 
has  met  with  violent  death  at  the  hands  of  an  assassin,  actu- 
ated by  motives  of  revenge,  or  by  sympathy  with  the  rebellion  which 
has  for  four  years  been  seeking  to  overthrow  the  government  of  our 
fathers,  which  is  the  rightful  inheritance  of  ourselves  and  our  chil- 
dren; and 

Whereas,  this  great  calamity  has  befallen  the  nation  at  a  time  when 
the  events  of  the  war  and  the  policy  of  the  President  gave  promise 
of  the  speedy  restoration  of  peace  and  union,  and  commanded  the 
approval  of  a  majority  of  the  patriotic  people  of  the  country;  there- 
fore 

JResolved,  that  in  this  sad  event  the  nation  is  called  to  mourn  the 
death  of  an  exalted  patriot,  and  the  world  a  truly  honest  man ;  and 
that  the  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  Buffalo,  feeling  that  a  blow 
has  been  struck,  not  only  at  the  national  life  but  at  the  personal  se- 
curity of  every  citizen  of  the  United  States,  declare  their  unalterable 
attachment  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  and  their  determina- 
tion to  uphold  the  National  Government  and  its  constituted  author- 
ities at  whatever  cost  or  peril. 

JResolved,  that  the  city  clerk  be  directed  to  cause  the  council  cham- 
ber to  be  suitably  draped  in  black  for  forty  days. 


40 

Resolved,  that  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  co-operate  with 
the  committees  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  of  citizens,  in  making  ar- 
rangements for  the  suitable  observance  of  the  funeral  obsequies. 

Aid.  Bryant  moved  that  James  M.  Smith,  Esq.,  be  in- 
vited to  address  the  Council  on  the  subject  of  the  above 
report.  Carried. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Council,  Aid.  Marsh, 
by  unanimous  consent,  offered  the  following : 

*  • 

TTTHEREAS,  arrangements  have  been  perfected  by  which  the  re- 
^  *  mains  of  President  Lincoln  are  expected  to  arrive  in  this  city 
on  the  morning  of  the  27th  instant,  and  remain  during  that  day, 
when  an  opportunity  will  be  afforded  our  citizens  to  view  the  re- 
mains and  unite  in  a  testimonial  to  his  memory;  therefore 

Resolved,  that  this  Council  will  in  a  body  at  such  hour,  on  that 
day,  as  the  committee  having  the  matter  in  charge  shall  name,  at- 
tend such  ceremonies  wearing  the  usual  badge  of  mourning,  and 
that  his  Honor  the  Mayor  be  requested  to  make  such  arrangements 
on  behalf  of  and  at  the  expense  of  the  city,  with  reference  to  the  oc- 
casion, as  he  may  think  proper. 

Adopted. 


THE  FUNERAL  OBSEQUIES. 

"Wednesday,  April  19th — the  day  set  apart  for  the  Fu- 
neral Obsequies  of  President  Lincoln  —  was  signalized  by 
the  most  solemn  ceremonies  ever  witnessed!  in  Buffalo.  In 
accordance  with  the  proclamation  of  Mayor  Fargo  and  the 
request  of  the  committees  appointed  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  proper  observance  of  the  day,  business  was 
universally  suspended,  and  the  emblems  of  mourning  were 


41 

visible  everywhere.  Factory  and  store,  shop  and  office 
were  abandoned  for  the  day,  and  the  utmost  quiet  pre- 
vailed everywhere.  The  day  was  as  balmy  as  could  be 
wished,  and  long  before  the  time  announced  for  the  exer- 
cises, Main  street,  and  other  principal  streets,  were  alive 
with  mourning  humanity.  The  flags  were  suspended  at 
half-mast,  and  over  the  stars  and  stripes  projected  the 
emblem  of  sorrow.  Many  of  the  stores  on  Main  street, 
the  printing  offices,  public  buildings,  depots,  and  number- 
less dwellings,  were  heavily  draped  exteriorly,  and  but  few 
stores  or  houses  in  the  city  were  there  that  did  not  wear 
the  insignia  of  mourning.  The  various  churches  in  which 
services  were  held,  the  Board  of  Trade  rooms,  Common 
Council  chamber,  Citizens'  Club  room,  and  numerous 
other  places,  were  most  tastefully  draped  interiorly.  In 
a  number  of  store  windows  were  displayed  the  litho- 
graphed likeness  of  the  late  President  in  mourning,  and 
on  the  streets  every  breast  bore  its  badge,  or  every  left 
arm  its  crape.  As  the  time  for  the  procession  approach- 
ed, the  sidewalks  on  either  side  of  Main  street  —  the  win- 
dows of  stores  from  the  Terrace  to  Tupper  street  —  the 
buildings  from  ground  floor  to  roof,  and  the  streets  con- 
verging in  Niagara  square,  became  thronged  with  people 
of  all  classes  and  ages,  till  it  seemed  as  if  the  population 
of  the  city  had  turned  out  en  masse. 

At  the  hour  designated,  the  various  divisions  which 
were  to  compose  the  procession,  took  position  on  the 
streets  in  the  vicinity  of  Niagara  square  in  accordance 


42 

with  the  programme,  and  through  the  efforts 'of  the  police, 
each  division  was  allowed  ample  space  for  its  movements. 

At  about  ten  minutes  before  twelve,  the  first  minute 
gun  was  fired,  the  bells  were  rung,  and  the  procession 
commenced  to  move,  the  military  companies  marching 
with  arms  reversed. 

The  line  of  march  was  up  Niagara  street  to  Main,  up 
Main  to  Virginia,  countermarching  on  Main  to  Tupper, 
down  Tupper  to  Delaware,  down  Delaware  to  Niagara, 
up  Niagara  to  Main,  down  Main  to  the  Terrace,  across 
the  Terrace  to  Franklin,  up  Franklin  to  Erie,  down  Erie 
to  Terrace  street,  and  thence  to  the  Terrace. 

The  procession  occupied  one  hour  and  five  minutes  in 
passing  a  given  point,  and  was  about  two  miles  and  a  half 
in  length.  Embodying  as  it  did  the  various  military, 
civic,  and  religious  organizations  of  the  city,  it  was  the 
most  dignified  and  imposing  funeral  cortege  ever  witness- 
ed in  Buffalo.  The  military  bore  draped  flags,  and  the 
various  societies  which  followed  carried  their  banners  ap- 
propriately'decorated.  The  Fire  Department  looked  bet- 
ter than  we  ever  saw  it  before,  and  the  decorations  of 
their  carriages,  trucks  and  engines,  were  very  tasteful. 

The  Funeral  Car  was  a  superbly  draped  canopy  resting 
on  four  pillars,  richly  trimmed  with  black  velvet,  silver 
fringed.  The  car  was  exquisitely  festooned  with  velvet 
and  silver,  and  the  inside  of  the  canopy  draped  in  white 
and  black  crape.  In  the  centre  of  the  car  was  the  dais 
upon  which  rested  the  coffin,  the  whole  covered  with 


43 

drapery.  The  tops  of  the  pillars  which  supported  the 
canopy  were  ornamented  with  large  knots  of  black  and 
white  crape,  a  black  plume  surmounting  the  canopy  itself. 
The  car  was  decorated  by  M.  St.  Ody,  and  was  altogether 
a  magnificent  affair.  It  was  drawn  by  six  gray  horses, 
each  wearing  on  his  head  a  black  plume,  and  on  his  back 
a  covering  of  broadcloth  trimmed  with  fringe.  The  ani- 
mals were  led  by  colored  grooms,  and,  with  the  car  to 
which  they  were  attached,  made  up  the  most  interesting 
feature  of  the  cortege. 

The  best  of  order  prevailed,  and  the  movements  of  the 
procession  were  made  with  a  precision  we  have  never  seen 
equalled.  Had  a  month's  discipline  been  instituted  in 
advance,  the  programme  so  far  as  it  related  to  the  proces- 
sion, could  not  have  been  carried  out  more  satisfactorily ; 
and  no  less  can  be  said  for  the  lookers-on,  who  avoided 
the  scramble  for  sight-seeing  positions,  usual  to  such  occa- 
sions, and  preserved  the  most  perfect  quiet  throughout. 

The  procession  having  arrived  on  the  Terrace  the  various 
divisions  were  drawn  up  in  lines,  the  Funeral  Car  occu- 
pying a  position  in  front  of  the  platform.  The  stand  was 
a  large  one,  erected  in  front  of  Pratt  &  Go's  and  Pratt  &, 
Letch  worth's  stores,  and  was  very  appropriately  decorated 
with  American  flags,  with  whose  folds  were  blended  the 
solemn  symbols  of  grief.  The  seats  were  occupied  by  the 
orator  and  officiating  clergymen,  the  pall-bearers,  members 
of  the  Common  Council  and  Board  of  Trade,  ladies  of  the 
Sanitary  Commission,  and  others.  At  half  past  one 


44 

o'clock,  Mr.  Lewis  F.  Allen  called  the  meeting  to  order, 
and  read  the  programme  of  exercises,  after  which  a  dirge 
was  played  by  the  Union  Cornet  Band.  The  following 
eloquent  and  effective  prayer  was  then  offered  up  to  the 
Throne  of  Grace,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Allison : 

OTHOU,  who  art  everywhere  present,  we  acknowledge  Thee  as 
the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe.  All  things  are  beneath 
Thy  control.  All  men  are  subject  to  Thee.  In  deep  distress  we 
approach.  Our  sorrow  and  loss  are  known  to  Thee.  "We  have 
done  evil  in  Thy  sight,  O  Lord.  As  a  nation  we  have  sinned  against 
Thee,  and  Thou  hast  permitted  Thy  servant,  our  Chief  Magistrate, 
to  be  taken  away  from  us  by  the  hand  of  violence.  That  he  lived 
to  accomplish  so  much  good  we  adore  Thy  Holy  Name.  That  he 
was  the  instrument  in  Thy  hand  of  subduing  this  wicked  rebellion, 
and  in  rescuing  so  many  of  our  fellow  creatures  from  slavery,  and 
in  upholding  in  its  integrity  the  Constitution  of  this  nation,  we 
praise  Thee.  And  now,  O  our  Father,  that  he  is  removed,  we  pray 
Thee  to  bless  us  and  sanctify  to  our  good  this  painful  dispensation 
of  Thy  providence.  Where  we  cannot  trace  Thee  in  thy  mysterious 
Providences,  may  we  trust  Thee.  We  acknowledge  thy  sovereign- 
ty and  bow  down  unto  Thee.  O  bless  this  nation,  now  bereft  of  its 
tried  and  honored  President.  Give  continued  victories  to  our  armies 
and  navies  until  our  last  enemy  is  subdued,  and  no  traitor  or  rebel 
voice  be  heard  throughout  our  land.  Sustain  Thy  servant,  the  new- 
ly installed  President,  in  the  discharge  of  the  important  duties  to 
which  he  is  now  called.  May  he  have  wisdom  and  strength  given 
to  him  to  conduct  successfully  the  affairs  of  this  great  Republic. 
May  he  receive  the  confidence  and  co-operation  of  the  people  for 
whose  welfare  he  occupies  his  high  position.  May  those  from  whom 
he  seeks  counsel  be  under  Thy  especial  direction  and  care.  We 
commend  to.  Thy  care  our  afflicted  Secretary  of  State.  We  thank 
Thee  that  Thou  hast  saved  him  from  sudden  death  by  the  assassin's 
knife.  Preserve  Thou  his  life,  O  God,  that  he  may  again,  by  Thy 
blessing,  resume  his  important  duties ;  and  may  we  long  enjoy  the 
influence  of  his  counsel  and  wisdom. 

May  all  who  have  suffered  from  this  desperate  wickedness  be 


45 

i 

speedily  restored  to  health  again.  Look  in  great  compassion  upon 
Thine  handmaid,  who  mourns  in  her  widowhood  to-day.  Be  Thou 
her  stay  and  support.  May  her  sorrow  (keener  than  ours  can  be)  be 
assuaged  by  Thee.  Protect  and  guide  her  children.  May  the  spirit 
of  the  father  be  given  to  the  sons.  Preserve  them  that  they  may 
be  a  blessing  to  the  land  he  served  so  well,  and  to  the  people  who 
this  day  mourn  his  loss. 

Give  spundness  and  health  to  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  who 
drag  out  weary  days  in  our  hospitals.  And  we  pray  Thee  speedily 
to  give  peace  in  all  our  borders. 

Bless  the  exercises  of  this  occasion  to  the  good  of  all  present. 
May  Thy  servant  who  shall  address  this  great  multitude  of  people, 
be  strengthened  for  the  comfortable  performance  of  his  duty,  and 
may  this  great  concourse  of  our  fellow  citizens  be  protected  in  safety 
to  their  homes  at  the  close  of  these  services.  May  we  all  be  kept 
from  danger,  accident  and  sudden  death ;  and,  finally,  may  we  in- 
herit eternal  life,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. 

The  various  singing  societies  next  gave  a  deep  and 
solemn  rendering  to  the  following  lines,  written  for  the 
occasion : 

WHAT  MEANS  THAT  CRT? 

What  means  that  cry,  that  is  rising  high 
From  the  darkened  land  to  the  startled  sky  ? 

What  means,  etc. 

'Tis  the  solemn  sound  of  a  nation's  woe, 
For  him  who  was  first  in  its  heart,  laid  low  I 

For  him,  etc. 

What  sudden  night,  with  a  spell  of  might, 
Hath  quenched  the  glow  of  victory's  light  ? 

What  sudden,  etc. 

'Tis  a  nation's  life  that  is  draped  in  gloom, 
Its  love  and  its  hope  that  are  laid  in  the  tomb. 

What  sudden,  etc. 

Oh  !   let  the  dirge,  with  its  mournful  surge, 
Float  o'er  the  land  to  its  farthest  verge  ; 
Oh  !  let,  etc. 


46 


While  we  smooth  o'er  his  honored  form  the  sod, 
And  the  soul  of  the  martyr  ascends  to  God  ! 
And  the  soul,  etc. 


Then  followed  an  extempore  oration  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Lord : 

TTTHY  is  this  vast  assembly  gathered  here  to-day  ?  How  comes 
•  *  it  that  the  nation  is  clad  in  mourning  ?  Wherefore  are  the 
cannon  booming,  and  why  is  the  victorious  flag  of  the  Republic 
draped  in  mourning,  and  hung  at  half-mast,  from  New  York  to  San 
Francisco — from  the  Bay  of  Massachusetts'  to  the  Chesapeake  ?  To 
the  Chesapeake,  did  I  say?  I  should  have  said  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  Four  years  ago  a  plain  man  from  Illinois  declared  at 
Washington  that  this  starry  flag  must  be  replaced  on  every  South- 
ern town  and  fortress,  and  to-day  his  command  is  fulfilled.  This 
flag  waves  to-day  from  Richmond  to  Raleigh,  from  Raleigh  to 
Columbia,  from  Columbia  to  Charleston,  from  Charleston  to  Mobile, 
and  from  Mobile  to  New  Orleans.  Whence,  then,  this  mingled 
grief  and  indignation  of  which  I  am  to  be  interpreter,  and  which 
has  a  voice  and  an  expression  in  every  town  and  village  of  the  Re- 
public? Our  venerated  President  is  dead.  He  has  fallen,  foully 
slain  by  the  blow  of  an  assassin,  and  this  is  the  day  of  his  funeral ! 
Twenty  millions  of  people  lift  their  hands  to  Heaven,  crying, 

"  Remember  not  our  bygone  years, 

Great  God  !  before  the  mercy  seat ; 
Behold  a  universe  in  tears, 
A  nation  at  Thy  feet ! " 

But  whence  this  terrible  agitation  ?  Why  do  strong  men  bow  them- 
selves to  hide  their  tears  ?  Why  does  the  nation  stagger  under  the 
blow  like  a  palsied  giant  ?  and  this,  too,  at  the  very  moment  of  its 
triumph,  when  victory  after  victory  is  reported  to  our  arms  through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  ?  Why  this  extraordinary 
grief?  Two  Presidents,  in  our  past  history,  have  fallen  in  the 
midst  of  their  labors.  Neither  is  the  assassination  of  rulers  and  of 
the  great  and  noble  a  new  event  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Abraham 


47 

Lincoln  is  not  the  first  of  high  officials  who  have  fallen  thus.  Henry 
IV.  of  France  fell  by  the  dagger  of  Ravaillac.  The  Washington  of 
Holland,  William  the  Silent,  Prince  of  Orange,  was  slain  by  the  pis- 
tol shot  of  an  assassin.  The  great  Duke  of  Buckingham  was  murdered 
by  Felton.  In  later  years  a  Prime  Minister  of  Great  Britain,  Mr. 
Percival,  was  assassinated  when  passing  out  of  the  House  %of  Com- 
mons. How  many  Kings  and  other  eminent  men  have  barely 
escaped  assassination?  Of  such  are  both  the  first  and  second 
Napoleon.  George  III.  of  England  was  fired  at.  In  the  old  Em- 
pire of  Russia  how  large  a  proportion  of  its  rulers  have  fallen  by 
the  dagger !  It  is  not,  therefore,  a  strange  event  \inder  the  sun 
which  calls  us  together  to-day.  Whence,  then,  this  immoderate 
grief, — whence  this  horror  in  all  minds,  making  the  flesh  to  creep 
with  terror  ? 

The  character  and  services  of  our  deceased  President,  together 
with  the  time  and  manner  of  his  death,  are  a  sufficient  explanation 
of  the  grief  and  indignation  which  has  so  touched  the  heart  of  the 
nation  and  brought  an  unnumbered  multitude  together  to-day  to 
hear  his  funeral  obsequies. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  the  son  of  a  poor  man,  and  was  born  of  a 
family  of  poor  whites,  in  Kentucky,  in  1809.  By  the  removal  of 
the  family  to  a  free  State,  the  boy  obtained  scope  for  his  advance- 
ment. Poverty  and  ignorance,  heirlooms  of  one  of  his  class  in  a 
slave  State,  were  no  longer  necessities  of  his  birth  and  pecuniary 
condition.  He  was  pre-eminently  a  self-made  man,  and  in  his 
earlier  years  followed  his  father's  occupation  of  farming.  His  first 
promotion  was  to  the  captaincy  of  a  militia  company  raised  during 
the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  he  has  been  known  to  say  that  this  early 
success  gave  him  more  pleasure  than  any  subsequent.  It  doubtless 
excited  his  ambition  and  led  him  to  persevere  in  his  efforts  at  self- 
education.  He  next  became  a  member  of  Congress  from  the  State 
of  Illinois,  and  afterwards  was  a  candidate  for  the  United  States 
Senatorship,  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas  (venerabile  nomenf)  as  his 
competitor.  Those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  sneer  at  Abraham 
Lincoln's  abilities,  should  have  remembered  that  the  fact  of  his 
having  borne  himself  with  credit  against  such  aft  antagonist  fur- 
nished a  most  abundant  proof  of  his  ability  before  as  well  as  after 
he  became  President.  Mark  well  the  title  of  "  rail  splitter  "  which 
has  been  contemptuously  fastened  upon  him,  and  the  reproach  laid 


48 

upon  Andrew  Johnson  of  having  risen  from  a  tailor  shop.  Such 
words  are  not  the  going  forth  of  the  true  Republican  spirit. 

It  is  the  glory  of  our  institutions  that  the  poorest  man  may  look 
forward  to  his  son's  becoming  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  never  was  a  time  in  our  history  when  the  true  Democratic 
temper  »f  the  American  people  and  the  genius  of  our  free  institu- 
tions were  made  more  manifest  than  when  a  farmer  and  a  tailor 
were  elected  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  great  Republic. 
When,  if  ever,  this  sneer  at  labor  shall  become  universal,  our 
liberties  are  lost :  our  government  is  a  Republic  no  longer,  but  an 
Aristocracy  almost  as  bad  as  that  foul  oligarchy  against  which  the 
nation,  for  four  years,  has  been  battling  for  life.  The  election  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  at  the  Chicago  Convention  was  a  remarkable 
fact.  His  rival  was  perhaps  the  most  polished  statesman  in  the 
United  States.  Mr.  Seward  is  an  educated,  polished  and  wealthy 
man,  but  Providence  decreed  that  the  plain  man  should  triumph 
and  become  President. 

Need  I  speak  of  the  acts  of  Abraham  Lincoln — how  he  has 
grown,  year  by  year,  upon  the  respect  and  affections  of  the  people  ? 
His  countenance,  homely  yet  benign ;  his  plain  manners,  his  very 
gait  are  present  with  you  now,  as  if  you  were  looking  on  his  face  in 
yonder  gorgeous  hearse.  His  character  was  unspotted — not  a 
single  stain  rests  upon  his  memory.  He  was  the  most  pure,  gentle 
and  generous  of  men.  He  retained  his  simplicity  of  character, 
manner  and  habits  in  his  high  position.  His  blood  had  not  a  drop 
of  malice  in  it.  He  was  a  peculiar  man.  There  was  in  him  an 
irrepressible  vein  of  humor  and  an  overflowing  of  anecdote  which 
served  as  a  safety  valve  in  his  innumerable  trials  and  perplexities ; 
with  this  genial  temper  he  possessed  an  almost  unerring  judgment, 
and  with  all  his  mildness  an  unyielding  firmness  on  vital  points. 
He  carried  in  his  face  and  conversation  the  tokens  of  a  universal 
charity.  If  his  worst  enemy  had  fallen  into  his  power,  he  would 
have  been  visited  with  not  a  single  particle  of  vengeance.  He 
was  as  ready  to  forgive  his  foes  as  they  were  eager  to  injure  him. 

Of  the  religious  character  of  Abraham  Lincoln  I  chance  to  know 
something  more  than  what  appears  in  his  published  words  and  in 
his  recent  Inaugural — his  Inaugural,  that  strange  prophetic  utter- 
ance, more  a  prayer  than  a  public  document,  the  fervid  power  of 
which  led  the  London  Times  to  pronounce  it  Cromwellian.  Not 


49 

that  this  haughty,  and  toward  us  always  contemptuous  English 
organ  intended  a  compliment,  but  any  parallel  with  Cromwell  will 
be  accepted  as  such  in  this  country,  where  the  Protector  is 
esteemed  the  ablest  man  that  ever  ruled  over  Great  Britain.  More 
like  a  prophecy  than  an  address  to  his  fellow-countrymen,  that 
Inaugural  seems  to  have  been  inspired  by  prophetic  anticipations 
of  the  death  he  has  met.  I  know  from  the  testimony  of  a  member 
of  his  household  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  man  of  prayer,  a  believer 
in  the  Gospel.  In  all  the  anguish  and  labor  of  the  first  term  of 
office  he  sought  God  for  succor  and  guidance.  Was  ever  man  so 
traduced,  so  overborne  with  trial  and  sorrow,  so  perplexed,  as  he 
who  was  fain  to  say,  when  certain  persons  visited  him  and 
reproached  him  in  regard  to  the  thousands  slain  at  Chancellorsville, 
that  he  would  gladly  change  his  place  for  that  of  any  of  the  men 
who  lay  in  their  blood  on  that  field  ? 

Shall  I  tell  you  of  the  services  of  Abraham  Lincoln  ?  He 
was  raised  up  to  guide  us  through  such  a  trial  as  no  nation 
ever  before  endured.  Not  but  what  the  foundations  of  other 
countries  have  been  laid  in  the  blood  of  civil  war.  Ours  is  not 
the  first  nation  which  has  been  drenched  in  the  gore  of  its  own 
citizens.  On  the  contrary,  no  nation  has  ever  sent  down  great 
roots  of  steadfastness  and  perpetuity,  but  these  were  nourished 
by  the  blood  of  civil  strife.  But  what  was  this  trial  of  ours? 
Eight  millions  of  people  revolting,  with  fury  and  murder  in  their 
hearts — sundering  rudely  all  ties  of  love,  of  a  common  religion,  a 
comnion  nationality  and  a  common  language !  Never  before  was 
revolt  so  formidable :  never  was  its  territory  so  vast,  its  population 
so  numerous,  its  resources  so  great,  its  spirit  so  revengeful  and 
malignant.  You  are  witnesses  to-day  how  patiently  and  with  what 
wisdom  Abraham  Lincoln  guided  our  affairs  until  at  last  the  flag  of 
the  Republic  waves  over  the  last  fortress  of  the  rebellion  and  is 
covered  with  complete  and  final  triumph.  With  the  fall  of  Raleigh, 
of  which  we  hear  this  morning,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  enemy 
has  been  surrendered.  When  Abraham  Lincoln  entered  Richmond 
he  was  suffered  to  see,  for  the  first  time,  the  reward  of  his  work. 
I  will  not  detain  you  to  speak  of  the  sufferings  and  trials  to  which 
he  was  subject.  Assailed  on  all  sides  by  extreme  men ;  de- 
nounced by  fanatics  of  opposing  schools,  and  annoyed  by  the 
divisions  and  dissensions  of  his  own  party,  none  but  a  calm,  kind, 


50 

wise  man  such  as  Abraham  Lincoln  could  have  managed  to  preserve 
harmony  among  his  supporters.  How  wisely,  patiently,  urbanely 
and  successfully  he  managed,  you  are  witnesses  as  you  stand  to-day 
with  the  rebellion  beneath  the  nation's  heel,  while  the  venomous 
monster  writhes  and  with  its  last  hiss  stings  to  death  our  Chief 
Magistrate. 

The  time  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  death  provokes  our  grief.  It  seems 
to  us  that  he  ought  to  have  seen  more  of  the  triumph  his  hand  had 
wrought — that  he  ought  to  have  lived  to  see  the  land  fully  purged 
of  rebellion,  and  until  he  felt  himself  truly  to  be  the  undisputed 
President  of  every  inch  of  soil  within  the  limits  of  the  territory  of 
the  United  States.  But  God  thought  otherwise.  He  caused  him 
to  go  up  like  Moses,  into  the  mountain  at  Richmond,  and  look  over 
upon  the  promised  land  which  it  was  not  permitted  him  to  enter. 
The  manner  of  our  President's  death  excites  our  indignation.  Had 
it  been  wrought  at  the  instigation  of  personal  revenge,  or  of  vin- 
dictiveness  which  his  conduct  had  created,  there  would  have  been  a 
different  impression  made  by  this  stupendous  crime.  But  the  assas- 
sin planned  his  deed  at  no  such  impulse.  Back  of  the  act  stand 
perhaps  a  thousand  conspirators  fired  by  a  sentiment  of  political 
malignity.  And  the  assassin  even  undertook  to  play  the  dramatist, 
appearing  after  he  had  committed  the  foul  deed  and  waving  a  dag- 
ger, with  the  words  of  the  motto  of  Virginia,  "Sic  semper  tyrannis" 
in  his  mouth — "  So  always  with  tyrants."  He  publicly  proclaimed 
himself  in  this  theatrical  manner  the  representative  of  Southern 
secession  and  treason.  The  motto  might  better  be  translated  "  So 
always  by  tyrants,"  for  it  was  the  tyrant  who  struck;  it  was 
Hampden  who  fell !  .Our  horror  is  provoked  because  it  is  an  orga- 
nized conspiracy  by  which  we  are  stricken.  The  proof  of  this  is 
accumulating  from  day  to  day.  The  assassination  of  the  President 
has  been  publicly  advertised,  threatened  and  justified  in  advance  by 
Southern  leaders  and  Southern  prints.  From  the  day  of  his  first 
inauguration  they  have  anticipated  the  crime  and  made  it  their  aim. 
The  rebellion  has  now  executed  its  first  threat  in  its  last  venomous 
act — the  murder  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  blow  is  aimed  at  the 
heart  of  the  country ;  at  you  who  have  stood  by  your  President ; 
at  free  speech,  free  soil  and  free  men. 

Besides,  Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  first  ruler  of  a  great  nation  who 
has  been  assassinated  because  he  represented  liberty.  With  one 


51 

exception — and  that  the  case  of  William  of  Orange,  who  was  killed 
rather  as  a  sacrifice  to  religious  fanaticism  than  from  political  mo- 
tives, though  his  death  did  gratify  the  hatred  of  Philip  II. — Presi- 
dent Lincoln  is  the  first  instance  of  a  ruler  being  slain  for  the  sake 
of  liberty.  Tyrants  have  fallen  often,  but  never  before  has  the 
head  of  a  government  fallen  because  he  was  the  enemy  of  slavery 
and  tyranny  and  the  friend  of  freedom.  This^stirs  up  our  horror — 
this  fires  our  indignation — that  a  man  so  just,  so  merciful,  so  inno- 
cent, should  have  fallen  to  gratify  the  lust  of  so  foul  an  oligarchy 
as  that  of  the  rebellion. 

But  are  there  no  consolations  connected  with  this  terrible  event, 
this  tremendous  crime  ?  I  have  already  spoken  of  his  blameless 
life  and  character  and  his  full  preparation  for  death,  and  in  these 
we  find  one  ground  of  consolation.  But  there  are  others.  The 
work  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  done.  Can  we  think  for  a  moment 
that  God,  who  preserved  him  from  the  pistol  of  the  assassin  four 
years,  would  have  suffered  him  now  to  have  fallen  if  his  work  had 
not  been  complete  ?  Not  if  we  believe  in  God.  Another  consola- 
tion is  this :  mark  it  well !  Abraham  Lincoln's  death  by  murder 
canonizes  his  life.  His  words,  his  messages,  his  proclamations,  are 
now  the  American  Evangel.  The  seal  of  martyrdom  is  set  to  Presi- 
dent Lincoln's  -policy  and  acts.  And  may  not  his  death  in  this  way 
accomplish-almost  as  much  as  his  life?  God  has  permitted  him  to 
die  a  martyr  because  He  wished  to  consecrate  the  works,  the  polity 
•and  proclamations  of  our  President  as  the  political  Gospel  of  our 
country,  sealed  with  blood.  It  will  be  hard  now  to  oppose  anything 
that  he  has  done,  or  to  pronounce  unwise  or  foolish  aught  that  he 
has  said. 

The  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  crowning  proof  of 
the  barbarizing  influence  of  slavery.  There  are  witnesses  here — 
these  emaciated  and  maimed  soldiers — who  represent  the  unparal- 
leled sufferings  of  their  class  and  proclaim  the  unspeakable  barbari- 
ties and  atrocities  which  have  made  the  rebel  prison-pens  synony- 
mous with  cruelty  and  murder.  The  facts  are  denied  in  England, 
but  they  will  yet  be  admitted  and  made  patent  before  a  shuddering 
world.  We  have  seen  something  of  the  malevolence  of  rebellion. 
We  have  seen  fifty  thousand  of  our  bravest  men  starved  and  tor- 
tured to  death  in  the  hands  of  rebels.  Twenty  years  from  now  this 
will  form  the  blackest  page  in  history  and  will  be  so  recognized  by 
4 


52 

all  civilized  men.  The  English  still  keep  fresh  the  horror  of  the 
Black  Hole  of  Calcutta ;  but  what  was  the  crime  of  a  drunken 
Rajah  who  could  not  be  waked  to  give  relief  to  a  small  corps  of 
suffering  English  prisoners  suffocating  in  an  unventilated  dungeon, 
compared  to  the  systematic,  designed  murder*  by  the  South  of  thou- 
sands of  their  prisoners.  These  victims  of  rebellion  were  starved 
and  tortured  to  death  by  inches,  and  atrocities  were  committed  upon 
them  which  it  will  not  do  to  name — which  even  themselves  will 
never  reveal.  These  things  are  sufficient  proof  of  the  barbarism 
of  slavery.  For  who  are  the  people  who  committed  these  crimes  ? 
They  are  of  the  same  stock  as  ourselves. 

When  I  resided  in  Mobile  I  found  that  about  the  half  of  the 
population  were  Northern  born.  How  is  it  that  so  many  men  at 
the  South  of  Northern  birth  and  Northern  breeding  have  been 
transformed  into  demons  ?  How  is  it  that  Massachusetts  men  as 
editors  in  Richmond  and  Charleston  exhausted  the  vocabulary  of 
foul  and  furious  epithets  in  their  abuse  of  the  North  ?  Is  there  any 
cause  for  this  transformation  but  slavery  ?  The  South  have  the  same 
language,  the  same  Bible  as  ourselves — their  blood  is  intermingled 
with  ours.  It  is  slavery  alone  which  has  debased  and  brutalized 
them.  Its  crowning  act  is  the  assassination,  under  the  motto  of 
Virginia,  of  President  Lincoln'.  The  whole  tragedy  shows  forth 
the  virus  of  insurrection  and  slavery.  And  now  is  there  any  man 
who,  in  future,  will  not  curse  this  monstrous  thing  ?  Will  it  ever 
be  tolerated  again,  or  again  find  apologists  ? 

It  may  seem  hard  to  say  what  I  am  about  to  affirm  of  a  certain 
class  at  the  South.  But  I  have  been  there  and  observed  in  what 
men  the  virus  of  the  rebellion  is  contained.  It  is  not  the  poor  whites, 
nor  yet  the  wealthy  slaveholders,  but  a  body  of  hangers-on  upon 
the  latter  who  were  wont  to  fill  New  Orleans  and  Mobile  with 
corpses  night  after  night,  who  practise  dueling  as  a  profession  and 
are  without  regard  for  human  life,  who  are  responsible  for  the  atro- 
cities which  have  from  first  to  last  characterized  the  great  Rebellion. 
This  class  of  the  Southern  people  ought  not  to  live.  In  the  bitter 
words  of  an  old  poet  they  are  — 

"As  full  of  devils  and  as  manifold 
As  finite  vessels  of  God's  wrath  can  hold !  " 

The  death  of  our  venerated  President  forever  silences  and  shames 


53 

the  sympathies  of  that  educated  class  in  Europe  who  have  been  ac- 
customed to  uphold  the  South  in  its  rebellion.  Those  representatives 
of  the  Confederacy  who  have  been  not  only  tolerated  but  feted  in 
London  and  Paris,  will  find  a  sudden  change  in  their  situation  when 
the  terrible  news  crosses  the  ocean.  The  finger  of  scorn  will  be 
pointed  at  them.  I  have  faith  in  England  and  in  France  as  well, 
that  the  people  of  each  will  from  henceforth  abhor  the  cause  of  which 
this  assassination  is  a  representative  act,  and  will  brand  the  sland- 
erers who  have  filled  their  newspapers  with  vile  abuse  of  our  gov- 
ernment, as  liars  and  murderers.  America  is  vindicated  in  the  Old 
World  by  the  dead  body  of  its  martyred  Chief  Magistrate.  The 
dagger  of  Booth  settled  the  question  of  the  respectability  of  seces- 
sion in  Europe. 

We  have  another  consolation  in  our  confidence  in  the  character 
of  Andrew  Johnson,  the  President  by  succession.  God  in  his  Prov- 
idence has  called  now  to  the  head  of  the  nation  a  Southern  'man  — 
bred  in  the  midst  of  slavery  —  twice  a  Governor  of  Tennessee  and  a 
United  States  Senator  from  that  State.  The  judgment  of  the  rebels 
is  left  to  a  man  whom  they  have  hunted  from  his  home  as  a  par- 
tridge upon  the  mountains.  He  has  already  announced  that  he  will 
have  no  mercy  for  traitors  —  that  he  will  spare  the  rank  and 
file,  but  hang  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion.  We  are  not  the  advo- 
cates of  private  or  personal  vengeance.  As  individuals,  forgiveness 
of  all  men  is  our  duty.  But  Andrew  Johnson  is  called  as  the  head 
of  the  nation  to  bear  the  sword  Of  government,  and  the  Apos- 
tle declares  that  the  ruler  shall  not  bear  the  sword  in  vain.  There 
is  a  solemn  curse  pronounced  on  whosoever  shall  resist  the  exercise 
of  this  lawful  power.  What  good  citizen  will  resist  this  divinely 
appointed  authority,  or  interpose  when  this  sword  of  justice  is  lifted 
to  punish  treason  ?  Out  upon  the  mawkish  sentimentalism  which 
would  stay  this  righteous  vengeance  !  It  is  neither  Christian  nor 
manly.  God  demands  that  there  shall  be  a  vindication  of  law  by 
the  sword  of  lawful  authority,  and  Andrew  Johnson  will  see  to  it 
that  this  is  done.  As  I  have  said  elsewhere,  the  South  have  put 
away  a  Son  of  Consolation  and  taken  in  exchange  a  Son  of  Thun- 
der. There  is  a  sort  of  poetical  justice  in  the  fact  that  they  are  now 
to  be  judgeM  by  a  Southern  man  accredited  a  statesman  by  them- 
selves, and  constituted  their  judge  by  the  act  of  assassination  which 
deprives  the  nation  of  its  venerated  President.  But,  my  friends, 


54 

we  are  all  fatigued,  and  this  subject  might  be  elaborated  for  hours, 
yet  the  protracted  services  of  this  sad  occasion  demand  brevity. 
God  has  seen  fit  to  repress  our  joy. 

But  a  day  since  we  were  ready  to  shout  hallelujahs.  That  exult- 
ation God  has  seen  fit  to  temper  by  causing  us  to  look  on  the  broken 
body  of  our  beloved  President.  The  tears  of  the  nation  will  bedew 
the  grave  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  he  will  be  held  in  all  time  as  the 
first  great  martyr  of  American  Liberty.  The  vast  army  of  300,000 
souls,  who  in  the  same  cause  have  suffered  before  him,  will  hail  the 
advent  of  their  Chief  whose  life  is  the  most  glorious  that  has  been  sac- 
rificed in  this  terrible  and  hitherto  doubtful  war.  The  lowly  class 
from  whence  Abraham  Lincoln  sprang,  will  revere  his  memory  and 
rejoice  in  his  glory.  Four  millions  of  slaves  whom  he  has  freed,  will 
forever  guard  his  name  and  fame  with  sleepless  vigilance  and  pre- 
sent at  his  grave  their  votive  offerings,  as  at  a  shrine.  The  nation 
has  canonized  him,  and  will  supplicate  for  his  successor  divine  sup- 
port and  guidance,  as  they  lift  to  heaven  the  prayer :  "  Help,  Lord, 
for  the  godly  man  ceaseth;  for  the  faithful  fail  from  among  the  chil- 
dren of  men." 

This  address  of  Dr.  Lord  was  necessarily  extempore 
from  the  fact  that  he  had  but  a  few  hours  notice  of  the 
appointment.* 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  oration  Mr.  Lewis  F.  Allen 
addressed  a  few  words  to  the  audience,  detailing  an  inter- 
view he  had  had  a  short  time  since  with  the  late  Presi- 
dent at  Washington.  On  Mr.  Allen's  informing  him  that 
the  people  of  the  North  were  all  well  pleased  with  his 
course,  Mr.  Lincoln  replied  that  he  was  glad  to  hear  it, 
adding:  "I  have  done  just  as  well  as  I  knew  how." 


*  [  The  editor  is  requested  by  Dr.  L.  to  express  his  appreciation  of  the  ability  and 
fidelity  of  the  reporter,  David  Gray,  Esq.,  of  the  Courier.'] 


55 

* 

At  the  close  of  Mr.  Allen's  remarks,  the  singing  socie- 
ties sang  the  following :  • 

REST,  SPIRIT,  REST. 

Rest,  (rest,)  rest,  (rest,}  rest,  spirit,  rest,  (rest.) 
In  Heaven  blest,  Rest,  spirit,  rest,  (rest.) 

Rest,  spirit,  rest, 

Thou  art  fled,  to  realms  of  endless  day, 
.    In  Heaven  blest,  by  warbling  choirs  of  seraphs  led 
Soar,  spirit,  soar  away,  Rest,  spirit,  rest 

Rest,  (rest,)  rest,  (rest,)  rest,  spirit,  rest,  (rest.) 
In  Heaven  blest,  Rest,  rest,  spirit,  rest,  (rest.) 
Soar,  spirit,  soar,  (spirit  soar,)  spirit  soar,  (spirit  soar.) 
In  Heaven  blest,  (heaven  blest,)  spirit  rest,  (spirit  soar.) 

Rest,  (spirit,)  rest,  spirit  rest,  (spirit  rest.) 
In  Heaven  blest,  (rest,)  rest,  (rest,)  rest,  spirit  rest 

Benediction  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smith  closed  the  impres- 
sive exercises,  and  the  immense  assemblage  congregated 
on  the  Terrace  dispersed.  Pleasant  and  exhilarating  as 
the  day  was,  there  was  no  disposition  anywhere  manifest- 
ed to  give  it  a  holiday  character,  as  is  generally  the  case 
when  an  entire  community  are  relieved  from  all  business 
care  and  duty.  Seriousness  and  sorrow  held  the  suprem- 
acy in  every  heart,  for  the  people,  with  'one  accord, 
mourned  sincerely  the  loss  of  their  Chief,  and  clasped 
hands  in  a  common  grief.  To  see  men  of  all  parties,  and 
religious  denominations ;  of  opposing  classes  and  interests ; 
of  antagonistic  thought  and  action,  stand  upon  a  single 
platform,  and  do  homage  as  one  man  to  the  memory  of 
the  great  martyr,  could  not  but  waken  the  strongest  emo- 
tions of  thankfulness,  that  the  destinies  of  this  great  na- 
tion are  in  the  keeping  of  such  a  people.  Wednesday, 


56 
t 

April  19th,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  took 

part  directly  or  indirectly  in  «the  obsequies  of  President 
Lincoln. 

The  committee  who  perfected  the  arrangements  for  the 
observance  of  the  day,  and  Chief  Marshal  Major-General 
Howard  and  his  Aids,  are  all  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of 
the  city  for  the  manner  in  which  the  ceremonies  were  con- 
ducted. So  far  as  the  procession  is  concerned,  it  is  uni- 
versally admitted  that  it  was  the  grandest  ever  witnessed 
in  Buffalo,  and  the  march  was  worthy  of  veterans. 


THE  REMAINS  OF  TEE  PEESIDENT  AT  BAT  A  VIA  —  THE  IB 
AEEIVAL  AND  RECEPTION  AT  BUFFALO. 

From  the  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser  of  April  2ith  and  28th. 

committee  appointed  to  proceed  to  Batavia,  to  meet  the  fn- 
-*-    neral  train,  left  at  6  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  20th,  a  special 
car  having  been  provided  for  their  accommodation.     They  were 
hospitably  received  and  courteously  entertained  by  the  citizens  of 
that  place.     The  following  gentlemen  composed  the  committee  : 

Hon.  MILLABD  FILLMORE,  Hon.  JAMES  SHELDON, 
"    N.  K.  HOPKINS,  "    E.  S.  PROSSOR, 

"    I.  A.  VERPLANCK,  "    P.  DORSHEIMER, 

"    J.  G.  HASTEN,  JOHN  WILKESON, 

"    F.  P.  STEVENS,  S.  H.  FISH, 

"     HENRY  MAKTIN,  S.  S.  JEWETT. 

THE  RECEPTION  AT  BATAVIA. 

The  people  of  the  village  were  awakened  by  the  firing  of  cannon 
before  daylight  this  morning,  and  as  the  gray  dawn  appeared  a  most 
imposing  sight  was  witnessed  at  the  depot.  It  seemed  to  us  that 
the  entire  population  of  the  village,  men  and  women,  young  and 


57 

old,  had  assembled  about  the  spot.  The  two  sides  of  the  depot 
were  tastefully  and  appropriately  draped  —  the  work  of  the  town 
authorities,  under  the  superintendence  of  Homer  Bostwick,  Esq., 
President  of  the  village.  Many  of  the  most  prominent  places  in  the 
village  were  also  draped  in  mourning. 

Promptly  to  a  moment,  according  to  a  special  time-table  pre- 
viously arranged,  the  pilot  engine,  with  one  car  attached,  made  its 
appearance.  These  were  simply  but  becomingly  draped. 

After  the  lapse  of  ten  minutes  the  funeral  train  made  its  appear- 
ance. This  was  composed  of  nine  cars  —  three  sleeping  cars  —  be- 
sides the  funeral  car,  in  which  lay  the  remains  of  the  lamented  dead. 
The  coaches  furnished  by  the  company  were  all  new,  and  probably 
formed  the  most  elegant  train  which  ever  passed  over  the  road.  All 
were  tastefully  draped. 

THE  FUNERAL  CAR. 

The  funeral  car  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  builder's  art,  and 
was  designed  and  constructed  by  Mr.  B.  P.  Lamerson,  for  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's use,  but  the  present  sad  occasion  is  the  first  time  this  splen- 
did car  has  been  put  in  motion.  Of  a  deep  chocolate  color,  the 
panels  relieved  with  a  delicate  tracery  of  small  pure  white  lines,  the 
car  would  seem  almost  specially  designed  for  its  present  use.  There 
are  twelve  windows  with  plate  glass  panes  on  each  side,  and  the 
entire  exterior  of  the  car  is  of  the  richest  character. 

The  edge  of  the  roof  is  tastefully  and  richly  hung  with  deep  silver 
fringe,  as  well  as  the  ends  of  the  porches.  Above  the  windows  is 
a  heavy  row  of  crape  festoons,  looped  over  each  window  by  a  silver 
star  and  a  large  silver  button  tassel.  Pendant  between  each  win- 
dow hangs  a  deep  fold  of  crape,  edged  with  silver  fringe. 

The  interior  of  the  car  is  hung  with  black  tapestry,  which  com- 
pletely conceals  the  rich  walnut  paneling,  and  the  closets,  sleeping 
berths  and  other  appliances  of  comfort.  The  platform  upon  which 
the  coffin  stands  is  covered  with  black,  and  all  around  the  car  the 
deep  and  solemn  aspect  of  the  interior  is  somewhat  brightened  and 
relieved  by  silver  stars  and  tassels. 

THE  TRAIN. 

As  the  train  approached  the  depot,  all  heads  were  uncovered, 
and  the  deepest  silence  prevailed.  The  locomotive  was  the  "  Dean 


58 

Richmond,"  a  splendidly  built  machine,  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
powerful  on  the  road.  In  the  front,  over  the  lamp,  two  American 
flags,  intertwined  with  emblems  of  mourning,  were  gracefully  fes- 
tooned, while  beneath  the  lamp  was  a  fine  portrait  of  the  deceased 
President,  also  enwreathed  in  black.  In  the  sockets  for  the  flag- 
staff on  either  side,  was  a  beautiful  bouquet  composed  of  evei'greens, 
lillies  of  the  valley,  ivy,  etc.  A  similar  bouquet  also  surmounted 
the  sand  box.  The  hand  rails  were  gracefully  festooned  with 
white  and  black  crape,  and  the  polished  work  shone  with  dazzling 
brightness. 

The  delegates  from  Buffalo  took  their  places  in  the  car  reserved 
for  them,  as  did  also  the  delegation  from  Batavia,  composed  of  the 
following  gentlemen : 

HARRY  WILBER,  H.  J.  GLOWACKI, 

D.  W.  TOMLINSON,  BENJ.  PRINGLE, 

JERRY  HASKELL,  W.  S.  MALLORY, 

MYRON  H.  PECK,  WM.  TYRRELL, 

JOHN  FISHER,  D.  D.  WAITE, 

SETH  WACKERMAN,  H.  U.  HOWARD. 
L.  DOTY, 

A  most  pleasing  feature  in  the  reception  at  Batavia,  was  the  sing- 
ing of  a  choir,  under  the  lead  of  Myron  H.  Peck,  Esq.  On  a  plat- 
form, which  had  been  erected  for  the  purpose  immediately  in  front 
of  the  depot,  a  large  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  took  their  po- 
sition, and  the  sweet  strains  of  the  hymn  "Speed  Away,"  floated 
out  on  the  morning  air,  producing  a  most  solemn  and  beautiful 
effect.  Another  hymn  followed,  and  the  train  took  its  departure. 

The  citizens  of  Batavia  —  ladies  and  gentlemen  —  are  entitled  to 
all  praise  for  the  good  taste  and  feeling  displayed. 

The  various  stations  on  the  road  were  passed  at  the  precise  time 
set  down ;  and  at  each  place,  and  for  that  matter,  all  along  the  en- 
tire route,  the  inhabitants,  notwithstanding  the  early  hour,  thronged 
the  way,  and  silently  and  respectfully  uncovered  as  the  train  passed. 

THE  ARRIVAL  AT  BUFFALO. 

How  shall  we  attempt  to  describe  the  scene  on  approaching  the 
city?  It  seemed  to  us  as  we  stood  upon  the  platform  of  the  car  and 
looked  over  the  vast  multitudes  which  thronged  every  street  and 
sidewalk,  every  window  and  house-top,  every  available  position,  in 


fact,  that  the  population  of  Buffalo  must  have  been  trebled  since  yes- 
terday, and  that  all  had  flocked  to  that  portion  of  the  city  through 
which  the  train  passed  on  its  way  to  the  depot. 

Arrived  in  the  depot,  the  officers  in  charge,  the  escort,  commit- 
tees and  others  were  shown  into  Bloomer's  model  railroad  dining 
saloon,  where  a  sumptuous  and  very  acceptable  breakfast  had  been 
prepared. 

Breakfast  over,  and  the  hour  of  eight  o'clock  having  arrived,  the 
remains  were  taken  from  the  funeral  car  and  conveyed  to  the  hearse 
prepared  to  receive  them — that  used  on  the  19th. 

LEAVING  THE  DEPOT. 

The  coffin  was  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  ten  of  the  soldiers,  pre- 
ceded by  Gen.  Dix  and  Staff,  the  officers  composing  the  cortege, 
and  the  members  of  Gov.  Fenton's  Staff,  viz: 

Inspector  General — GEO.  E.  BATCHELLOK. 
Judge  Advocate  General — A.  W.  HARVEY. 
Quartermaster  General — MERKITT. 
Paymaster  General — MARVIN. 
Chief  Military  Bureau — COL.  L.  L.  DOTY. 

The  sergeants  bearing  the  coffin  were  flanked  by  the  remainder 
of  the  Guard  of  Honor  with  drawn  swords.  On  the  right  and  left 
of  these  walked  the  bearers,  as  follows : 

SAMUEL  F.  PRATT,  GEO.  R.  BABCOCK, 

WARREN  BRYANT,  WM.  WILKESON, 

G.  T.  WILLIAMS,  JACOB  HEIMLICH,  JR., 

THOS.  J.  DUDLEY,  ISAAC  HOLLOWAY. 

The  coffin  being  placed  on  the  hearse,  and  all  being  in  readiness, 
the  procession  commenced  its  march. 

THE  PROCESSION. 
The  following  was  the  order  of  the  procession : 

Major-General  R.  L.  HOWARD  and  Staff. 

Union  Cornet  Band. 
Brigadier-General  WM.  F.  ROGERS  and  Staff. 

74th  Regt.  N.  G.,  Col.  W.  G.  SEELY. 

Battery  of  Light  Artillery — 6  pieces — commanded  by 

Lieut.-Colonel  R.  FLACH. 

Miller's  Band. 


Maj 


60 

« 

Army  and  Navy  Officers. 
jor-General  Dix  and  other  General  Officers  in  carriages. 


rd 

f 

o 

*^              o 

QJ 

0 

.t- 

O3 

* 

0 
P 

p 

of  Honor,  Co.  B 
'all  Bearers. 

lonor  —  Sergeani 
ran  Regiments. 

1 

rd  of  Honor  —  Sc 
Veteran  Regim 

Guard  of  Honor, 
Pall  Bearer 

rrt      HH       i—  i      <u 

1                 <8      « 
°    t> 

S 

re     >-< 
P    ffQ 

»  i 

?     0 

p 

O          ^ 

** 

p 

w 

-       1 

'i 

r^- 
00 

^T 

0                  ^ 

o 

Civic  Escort. 

Citizens'  Committee  on  foot. 

Common  Council  on  foot. 

Citizens  in  Carriages. 

Citizens  on  foot. 

AROUND   ST.  JAMES  BUILDINGS. 

The  crowd  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  St.  James  Buildings  was 
immense,  and  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  the  police,  who 
.seemed  to  be  everywhere  present,  were  enabled  to  carry  out  their 
instructions  and  enforce  obedience  to  the  regulations  which  were 
made  for  the  accommodation  of  all.  No  cars  or  other  vehicles  were 
allowed  to  pass  along  Main  or  Eagle  streets  —  ropes  being  stretched 
across  the  former,  and  the  latter  having  been  closed  by  a  high  board 
fence. 

IN  THE  HALL. 

After  traversing  the  route  laid  down,  the  funeral  car  stopped  in 
front  of  the  Main  street  entrance  of  the  Hall,  about  9  o'clock,  and 
the  coffin  was  borne  by  its  trusty  guardians  to  the  place  prepared 
for  it.  The  lid  was  removed  from  the  face  by  the  embalmer  and  the 
undertaker,  who  accompanied  the  train  from  Washington,  and  the 
face  of  the  martyred  President  was  exposed  to  view.  Wreaths  of 
flowers  were  placed  upon  the  coffin  and  a  most  beautiful  floral  de- 
vice in  the  shape  of  a  harp,  with  broken  strings,  the  gift  of  the  ladies 
of  the  St.  Cecilia  Society,  was  placed  at  the  head. 


61 

About  10  o'clock,  the  doors  were  thrown  open  and  the  public 
were  admitted  to  the  Hall. 

The  internal  arrangements  of  the  Hall  for  exhibiting  the  remains 
of  the  President  could  not,  in  our  opinion,  have  been  better  con- 
ceived, when  it  is  remembered  that  in  the  construction  of  public 
halls  for  exhibitions  but  little  provision  is  or  can  be  made  for  exhib- 
iting except  with  gas  light.  In  draping  with  black  such  a  hall  as 
the  St.  James,  the  light  of  the  few  windows  is  so  much  absorbed  or 
shut  out  that  we  think  the  plan  adopted  of  depending  entirely  upon 
gas  for  lighting  was  an  admirable  one.  The  tent  or  canopy  was 
erected  in  the  centre  of  the  Hall,  fifty  feet  in  diameter  by  thirty  in 
extreme  height.  Two  thousand  yards  of  black  undressed  cambric 
were  used  in  its  construction.  It  was  lighted  by  the  large  chande- 
lier, the  fifty  jets  of  which,  tempered  by  the  sombre  surroundings 
created  a  pleasing  yet  saddening  eifect  upon  the  mind,  entirely  in 
keeping  with  the  time  and  occasion. 

The  walls  of  the  canopy  were  decorated  with  hangings  of  black 
velvet  and  silver  bullion  fringe,  alternating  with  large  braids  of 
black  and  silver,  with  large  rosettes  interspersed.  Ten  large  mourn- 
ing pillars,  appropriately  festooned,  were  distributed  around  the 
sides  of  the  canopy. 

The  platform  or  dais  upon  which  the  coffin  rested,  was  beautiful 
in  design  and  in  decoration,  so  perfectly  in  keeping  with  the  finish 
of  the  coffin  that  it  seemed  that  one  mind  must  have  conceived  both. 
To  M.  St.  Ody  belongs  the  credit  of  all  this,  and  if  any  evidence  had 
previously  been  required  to  establish  his  reputation  as  a  gentleman 
of  exquisite  taste,  the  deficiency  has  been  abundantly  supplied. 

The  entrance  from  Main  street  was  reserved  for  ladies.  On  enter- 
ing here  all  passed  up  the  right  hand  side  of  the  stairway,  entered  the 
main  Hall  through  the  side  door,  passed  the  coffin  over  a  raised  and 
railed  platform,  and  countermarching,  passed  out  by  the  same  door 
and  stairs  through  which  they  entered — always  keeping  to  the  right, 
and  thus  avoiding  confusion.  Gentlemen  entered  by  the  Eagle  street 
door,  passed  up  the  easterly  stairs,  thence  through  the  Hall,  past  the 
coffin,  and  down  by  the  westerly  stairs.  N"o  person  was  allowed  to 
stop  or  leave  the  line  for  a  moment.  The  order  was  excellent.  Since 
the  doors  were  first  opened  for  the  reception  of  visitors  this  morn- 
ing, there  has  not  been  a  single  moment's  pause  in  the  living  stream 
which  has  flown  through  the  Hall.  Twenty  thousand  we  believe 


62 

would  not  be  too  high  an  estimate  of  the  number  which  visited  it 
between  nine  o'clock  and  noon. 

Before  the  opening  of  the  coffin,  a  dirge  was  sung  by  the  members 
of  the  St.  Cecilia  Society,  occupying  a  position  in  the  gallery,  above 
the  canopy  which  enclosed  the  coffin,  and  the  eifect  was  pronounced 
by  those  who  were  present,  as  striking  and  impressive  in  the  ex-  ( 
treme.  The  coffin  having  been  opened,  the  singers  changed  their 
position  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  Hall,  and  again  the  solemn 
strains  of  the  dirge  filled  the  vast  apartment. 

VISIT  OF  THE  COMMON  COUNCIL. 

At  12  o'clock  the  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  Buffalo  and  the 
city  officials,  headed  by  Mayor  Fargo,  the  Supervisors  of  Erie 
county,  the  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  Rochester,  with  Mayor 
Moore  and  Aid.  Draper,  President  of  the  Council,  Brig.-Gen.  Wil- 
liams, of  the  25th  N.  G.,  and  staff,  and  Col.  Clark,  of  the  54th  N.  G., 
and  staff,  visited  the  Hall.  The  civil  and  military  officers  from 
Rochester  arrived  on  the  eight  o'clock  train,  and  joined  our  city  of- 
ficials at  the  Council  Chamber  by  invitation. 

Throughout  the  entire  day  some  of  the  officers  belonging  to  the 
escort,  accompanied  by  officers  of  the  Union  Continentals,  main- 
tained a  position  at  the  head  of  the  coffin,  and  never  was  there  a 
single  moment  when  some  of  them  were  not  immediately  beside  the 
remains. 

It  is  impossible  to  speak  too  highly  in  praise  of  the  members  of 
the  Police  force  who  were  on  duty  inside  the  Hall.  Vigilant  and 
untiring,  they  performed  their  duties  in  a  manner  thoroughly  ac- 
ceptable to  all.  Never  speaking  above  a  whisper,  passing  noiseless- 
ly through  the  Hall,  they  were  everywhere  present,  courteous  but 
firm,  neat  and  gentlemanly  in  appearance,  and  were  materially  in- 
strumental in  bringing  about  the  results  so  highly  spoken  of. 

The  Union  Continentals,  too,  are  deserving  of  all  praise.  From 
morning  till  night  they  were  at  their  posts,  performing  their  oner- 
ous duties  with  a  degree  of  efficiency,  and  a  cheerfulness  and  alac- 
rity, hardly  to  be  expected  in  men  whose  age  and  position  entitle 
them  to  rank  among  the  fathers  of  the  city. 

Having  conversed  with  several  observing  gentlemen  whose  duty 
required  them  to  be  present  in  the  Hall  throughout  the  day — some 


63 

of  them  having  counted  and  "  timed  "  the  number  passing  the  coffin 
at  various  intervals  —  we  are  convinced  that  at  least  ONE  HUNDRED 
THOUSAND  persons  visited  the  Hall  from  the  opening  to  the  close. 

The  stores  on  Main  street,  and,  indeed,  throughout  the  greater 
portion  of  the  city,  were  closed  during  the  day.  Many  of  the  prom- 
inent places  of  business  on  Main  street  were  elaborately  and  beauti- 
fully draped  in  white  and  black,  and  there  was  no  place  which  did 
not  exhibit  some  signs  of  mourning.  Flags  at  half  mast,  shrouded 
and  draped,  were  seen  on  every  hand,  and  every  possible  mark  of 
respect  was  apparent. 

CLOSING  THE  COFFIN, 

At  ten  minutes  past  eight  o'clock,  Capt.  N.  K.  Hall,  of  the  Union 
Continentals,  gave  the  order  for  the  doors  to  be  closed,  and  all  fur- 
ther admission  was  denied.  The  Continentals  formed  in  single  file, 
and  passed  around  the  coffin  to  take  a  last  look  at  the  face  of  the 
illustrious  dead ;  the  embalmer  and  his  assistant  removed  the  wreaths 
of  flowers  from  the  coffin  and  silently  brushed  the  dust  from  the  vel- 
vet covering;  the  lid  was  screwed  down  and  the  flowers  replaced; 
the  manly  looking  Sergeants  of  the  Guard  of  Honor — the  carriers 
—  approached  and  reverently  raised  the  coffin  to  their  shoulders 
and  proceeded  with  it  out  of  the  Hall  —  past  their  comrades  and 
officers  drawn  up  with  sabres  at  the  present  —  past  the  Continent- 
als in  the  outer  Hall  —  past  the  soldiers  of  the  74th  —  past  the  Com- 
mittees —  and  bore  it  to  the  funeral  car  which  was  in  waiting  in 
front  of  the  Main  street  entrance. 

'    DEPARTURE  OF  TEE  TRAIN. 

• 

The  escort  was  the  same  as  in  the  morning.  The  depot  was 
reached  —  the  body  was  borne  to  the  funeral  car,  and  the  escort 
took  its  leave.  A  large  gathering  of  citizens  surrounded  the  depot 
and  crowded  the  entrances. 

The  train  on  the  Lake  Shore  road  consisted  of  nine  coaches,  in- 
cluding the  funeral  car  and  the  magnificent  sleeping  car  which  had 
also  come  from  Washington.  The  coaches  of  the  Lake  Shore  road 
were  new  and  beautiful,  and  all  were  decorated  with  exquisite  taste. 

The  hour  of  departure  having  arrived,  the  train  moved  off 
promptly  at  the  minute,  the  solemn  strains  of  the  dirge,  performed 
by  Miller's  Band,  filled  the  place,  and  the  remains  of  the  venerated 


64 

Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Union  passed  on  their  way  to  their  final 
resting-place. 

The  citizens  of  Buffalo  acquitted  themselves  with  high  honor 
on  this  sorrowful  occasion,  and  the  part  taken  by  them  on  the  mem- 
orable 27th  of  April,  1865,  will  be  recorded  and  mentioned  to  their 
credit  for  a  century  to  come. 

The  74th  Regiment  never  looked  better  than  yesterday,  and  Col. 
Seely,  Lieut.-Col.  Baker  and  all  the  officers  and  men  may  congratu- 
late themselves  upon  the  fact  that  their  bearing  was  such  as  to  call 
forth  not  only  the  praise  of  our  citizens,  but  that  of  veteran  officers 
fresh  from  the  field,  whose  opinions  in  such  matters  are  entitled  to 
additional  weight. 


NOTE. 

The  Editor  of  this  pamphlet  desires  to  say  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  matter  has  been  selected  from  the  reports  of  the  different  daily 
papers  of  the  city.  His  object  has  been  simply  to  present  a  cor- 
rected history  of  the  proceedings  had  in  Bufialo,  commemorative,  of 
the  death  of  President  Lincoln,  in  a  shape  better  adapted  for  preser- 
vation than  in  those  "  brief  chroniclers  of  the  times  "  to  whom  he  is 
thus  indebted. 

It  is  proper  to  add  that,  besides  those  here  given,  several  sermons 
were  preached  on  the  occasion.  Some  of  these  have  been  published 
in  pamphlet  form,  which  will  account  for  their  absence  from  this ; 
others  he  would  have  been  glad  to  give,  but  they  were  either  not 
accessible  to  him,  or  would  not  come  within  the  limit  prescribed 
for  the  work. 


From  ike  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  May  3d,  1865. 

THE  SILENT  SORROW  OF  THE  ENFRANCHISED  SLAVE. 

Suggested  by  the  Obsequies  of  President  Lincoln  in  Buffalo. 
BY  JOHN   C.   LORD. 

The  silent  sorrow  of  the  enfranchised  slave 

Has  no  fit  place  amid  our  sad  array ; 
No  symbol  of  these  mourning  millions  wave 

Among  our  emblems,  as  they  should,  to-day. 

What  tears  like  theirs,  for  whom  the  Martyr  bled? 

What  wail  of  thronging  thousands  can  compare 
With  their  unspoken  anguish  for  the  dead, 

Deep  in  its  silence,  dumb  in  its  despair  ? 
• 
No  booming  cannon  vocalize  their  grief, 

No  long  processions,  moving  sad  and  slow; 
No  solemn  dirges  give  their  souls  relief, 

No  gorgeous  standards,  draped  with  signs  of  woe. 

Sadly  the  Freedmen  wend  from  hill  and  vale, 
Gath'ring  in  their  rude  huts  at  set  of  sun, 

In  solemn  awe,  to  hear  the  appalling  tale 
Of  that  foul  deed  on  their  Deliverer  done. 

Ah !    who  can  know  their  untold  agony, 

To  whom  his  death  appears  the  crowning  loss  ? — 

So  the  Disciples  feared  on  that  dread  day 
When  the  great  SUFFERER  hung  upon  the  Cross. 

The  sable  Mother,  as  her  eyes  grow  dim, 
Wails  o'er  her  first-born  by  the  cottage  fire; 

Freedom,  though  late  for  her  is  all  to  him  — 
Must  it,  alas!   with  that  great  life  expire? 

Old,  scarred  and  palsied  slaves,  who  from  the  shore 
Of  burning  Afric  in  their  youth  were  torn, 

Bow  down  in  speechless  misery  before 
The  tale  of  horror  on  the  breezes  borne ! 

They  know  not  that  the  manner  of  his  death 
Forever  seals  their  chartered  rights  as  men  — 

That  in  their  Martyr's  last  expiring  breath 

The  Nation  heard  these  solemn  words  again:  — 

Two  hundred  years  of  unrequited  toil 
Have  heaped  up  treasure  for  this  day  of  Hood, 

And  every  drop  of  Slave-gore  on  our  soil 
Demands  another  from  the  Stcord  of  God ! 


